Court: "Detention Period Should Be Calculated by Actual Time, Not Calendar Days"
Mentions Clarity and Legality of Investigation by High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit and Prosecution
If Prosecutor Does Not Appeal Within 7 Days or Waives Appeal, Release Will Follow
President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was arrested and indicted on charges of being the 'ringleader of the rebellion' related to the December 3 emergency martial law incident, is now able to stand trial while released after 51 days of detention and 40 days since indictment. The court accepted President Yoon's request to cancel his detention, stating that the indictment was made after the expiration of the detention period and that questions regarding procedural clarity and legality involving the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit and the prosecution must be resolved.
President Yoon Suk-yeol is attending the "8th Hearing on the Impeachment Trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol" held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul on February 13, 2025. Photo by Joint Press Corps
On the 7th, the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Ji Gui-yeon) granted President Yoon's request to cancel his detention. President Yoon's legal team filed the request on the 4th of last month, citing 'illegal detention' as the reason.
The court ruled that the indictment should be considered as having been made after the expiration of President Yoon's detention period. The bench explained, "The detention period should be calculated based on actual time, not calendar days," and added, "It is difficult to consider the period during which documents for the detention review were with the court as excluded from the detention period."
Furthermore, the court stated, "While the Criminal Procedure Act stipulates that the period during which related documents are with the court for pre-detention suspect hearings and detention reviews is excluded from the detention period, it is unclear whether this applies to detention review hearings." Considering personal liberty and the principle of non-detention during investigation, interpreting that the time the investigation-related documents were with the court should be excluded from the detention period would cause no absurdity.
The court concluded, "In light of the above legal principles, it is reasonable to view the indictment as having been made after the expiration of the defendant's detention period." Specifically, President Yoon was arrested at approximately 10:33 a.m. on January 15, with the scheduled detention expiration at midnight on January 24. However, documents related to the detention review were submitted to the court around 5:46 p.m. on January 17, and the detention warrant was issued with the documents returned to the investigative agency around 2:53 a.m. on January 19. This process took about 33 hours and 7 minutes, extending the scheduled detention expiration to approximately 9:07 a.m. on January 26. Ultimately, the prosecution was filed around 6:52 p.m. on January 26, which was already past the detention expiration time.
Additionally, the court referenced the defense's argument that "the court's jurisdiction does not include the investigation of the crime of rebellion by the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit, and that the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit and the prosecution are independent investigative bodies that improperly divided the detention period set by the Criminal Procedure Act without any legal basis, and that no custody procedures were followed during this process."
The court stated, "There are no clear provisions in the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit Act or related laws, nor any Supreme Court interpretations or rulings on this matter," and added, "To ensure procedural clarity and eliminate doubts about the legality of the investigation process, it is appropriate to decide to cancel the detention."
However, even with the court's decision to cancel detention, President Yoon's release is not immediate. On the same day, Seok Dong-hyun, President Yoon's defense attorney, said, "The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, as the prosecuting agency, can file an immediate appeal within seven days, and if they waive the immediate appeal or do not file within the period, release will follow." He also stated, "Since the immediate appeal system for this decision has been ruled unconstitutional, it is proper to order the immediate release of the president."
Previously, the court held a hearing on the 20th of last month. President Yoon's legal team argued that the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit's investigation and indictment procedures for the rebellion charge were all illegal, and that there was no risk of evidence destruction, thus calling for President Yoon's release. They also claimed that since the indictment was made after the detention period expired, the current state amounted to illegal arrest and detention, pressuring the court by suggesting that the issue of illegal detention could become the court's responsibility.
In response, the prosecution countered that the detention and indictment were carried out within the lawful period and procedures, and that the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit's investigation of the rebellion charge was lawful. Regarding the risk of evidence destruction, they argued that since President Yoon remains in office, there is a possibility of coercion attempts, and thus the request to cancel detention should be dismissed.
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