The court denied the extension of the detention period for President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is accused of leading a rebellion and other charges.
On the 24th, the Special Investigation Headquarters for Emergency Martial Law of the Prosecution (Headed by Park Se-hyun, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office) stated, "We applied to the Seoul Central District Court for an extension of President Yoon's detention period the previous day, but the court denied it on the 24th."
According to the prosecution, the court stated, "In cases where a High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOCI) prosecutor investigates crimes related to high-ranking officials and attaches a request for indictment, sending the documents and evidence to a prosecutor at the prosecution office, it is difficult to see sufficient grounds for the prosecution office prosecutor who receives the documents to continue the investigation while deciding whether to indict."
The court cited as grounds the legislative intent of the HOCI Act, which established the HOCI to investigate crimes of high-ranking officials independently, the purpose of ensuring fairness in investigations by separating investigation and prosecution and applying this separation between the HOCI and the prosecution office as stipulated in Article 26 of the HOCI Act, and the absence of explicit provisions in the HOCI Act regarding the supplementary investigation authority or scope of prosecutors belonging to the prosecution office.
Earlier, the prosecution received President Yoon's case from the HOCI and applied to the Seoul Central District Court to extend the detention period until the 6th of next month. However, with the extension denied, the prosecution is considering options such as indicting President Yoon as is or reapplying for an extension of the detention period.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
