This Sunday, a court in Seoul rejected the petition to annul the arrest warrant against the south korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol for his failed declaration of martial law in December that the president’s lawyers had requested.
The reasoning behind the ruling by the Seoul Western District Court that has been made is unknown at the moment. ruled out granting annulment.
The president’s legal team demanded a few days ago to invalidate the order, arguing that only the Prosecutor’s Office, and not the anti-corruption office, can request an arrest of course crime of insurrectionthe only one from which a South Korean president is not immune.
After knowing the ruling of Justice ruling out the annulment of the arrest, The South Korean president’s security team has reaffirmed its refusal to cooperate.
Presidential security has said it cannot cooperate with officials trying to detain the ousted president citing the ongoing legal debate.
Last Tuesday, the anti-corruption bureau obtained an order from the same Seoul Western District Court to temporarily arrest Yoon, who had ignored three subpoenas to testify, and interrogated himbut the Presidential Security Service (PSS) on Friday prevented investigators from accessing his home in the South Korean capital after several hours of tense confrontation.
South Korea punishes leaders of insurrection movement with life imprisonment or capital punishment (on which there has been a moratorium in the Asian country for almost 40 years).
The warrant to arrest the president expires on Monday and, if you are arrested before that period, investigators They would have 48 hours to interrogate Yoon and even request an order to extend the detention if they think it is necessary.
Yoon, who has been banned from leaving the countrywas dismissed by Parliament on December 14 and is waiting for the Constitutional Court to decide between now and June whether to reinstate him or permanently dismiss him.
Thousands of South Koreans protest in the snow
Thousands of people gathered this Sunday under the snow to speak out for or against Yoon Suk Yeolless than two days before the deadline for his arrest for the failed promulgation of martial law.
The demonstrations began this Saturday when Thousands of people came to Yoon’s residence and to the main streets of Seoul with one side defending his arrest and another supporting his continuation in power.
Pro-Yoon protesters gathered again on Sunday in front of his house despite a snowfall that has left Seoul under a white blanket.
Protesters opposed to Yoon have also gathered nearby. “Snow is nothing to me. All the snow could fall and we would still be here“said Lee Jin-ah, a 28-year-old anti-Yoon protester.
“I left my job (in a cafe) to come protect our country and democracy“, declared a woman who spent the night in front of the presidential residence.
For his part, septuagenarian Park Young-chul has stated that the storm will not make him give up supporting Yoon before the arrest warrant expires. “I was in the war and fought the communists in 20 degrees below zero in the snow. “The snow is nothing, the war repeats itself,” he told AFP.