Seoul, South Korea (AP) – A South Korean court ordered Friday President Yoon Suk Yeol To be released from prison, a decision that could allow Yoon to undergo his trial for his accusation of rebellion without being physically detained.
Yoon was arrested and charged in January during the decree of the martial law on December 3 which plunged the country into political troubles. The Parliament controlled by the opposition voted separately to indict him, leading to his suspension of his functions.
The hearings of his dismissal trial before the Constitutional Court concluded at the end of February, and this court should soon decide on the advisability of officially withdrawing it from its functions or reintegrating it.
The Central District Court of Seoul declared that he had accepted Yoon’s request to be released from prison because the legal period of his official arrest previously expired He was charged.
The court also cited the need to resolve questions on the legality of investigations on Yoon. Yoon lawyers accused the investigation agency, which held him before his official arrest of lack of legal authority to probe the accusations of rebellion.
The investigators alleged that the decree of the martial law was equivalent to a rebellion. If he was found guilty of this offense, he would risk death or perpetuity imprisonment.
Yoon’s defense team welcomed the court’s decision and urged prosecutors to release him immediately. The presidential office also welcomed the court’s decision, saying that he hopes that Yoon will return to work quickly.
However, the law of South Korea allows prosecutors to continue to have a suspect whose arrest has been temporarily suspended by a court while pursuing a call.
The main Liberal Democratic Party of the Opposition, which led Yoon’s dismissal on December 14, called on prosecutors to immediately appeal the court’s decision.
Martial law decree of Yoonwhich involved the dispatch of troops and police forces in the National Assembly, spoke of traumatic memories of the military rules spent among many South Koreans. The decree lasted only six hours, because enough legislators managed to enter an assembly room and voted to overthrow it unanimously.
Yoon later argued that his decree only aimed to inform the people of the danger of the Democratic Party of the opposition, who undermined his program and dismissed the senior officials, and said that he had sent troops to the assembly only in order to maintain order. But some best military and police officers sent to the Assembly told the hearings of the Constitutional Court or to the investigators that Yoon had ordered them to drag the legislators to obstruct a vote on his decree or have politicians.
If the Constitutional Court confirms the dismissal of Yoon, he will be officially thrown from his functions and a national election will be held to choose his successor within two months. If the court rejects its dismissal but it is still in prison, it is not clear if and how long it can exercise its presidential powers.
Massive rallies of opponents and supporters of Yoon filled the streets of Seoul and other major South Korean cities. Whatever the Constitutional Court, experts say it will probably polarize the country and intensify its conservative-liberal fracture.
Yoon is the first South Korean president to be arrested during his mandate. The South Korean law gives presidential immunity of most criminal proceedings, but not for serious accusations such as rebellion or betrayal.
According to the law, a president in South Korea has the power to hand over the country under martial law in wartime and similar emergency situations, but many experts say that South Korea was not in such a state when Yoon declared martial law.
