By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) -A South Korean court on Friday rejected a request from prosecutors to extend the detention of accused President Yoon Suk Yeol over a criminal investigation into his short-lived declaration of martial law on December 3, Yonhap reported.
The Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which led the investigation on Thursday, referred the case to prosecutors and asked them to charge Yoon with insurrection and abuse of power.
Yoon, indicted and suspended from power on December 14, has been detained since last week as investigators probe his attempt to impose martial law – a move that shocked the nation despite being repealed by Parliament within hours.
The CIO said Yoon’s detention will end around January 28, and they expect prosecutors to ask the court to extend it for another 10 days before formally charging the president.
However, the Seoul Central District Court rejected the prosecutor’s request, saying there were “no substantial reasons” why prosecutors would continue the investigation after collecting evidence from the CIO, Yonhap News Agency said.
The prosecutor’s office and the court were not available for comment.
Yoon’s lawyers have consistently said the CIO has no authority to handle his case because the law sets out a wide-ranging list of high-ranking officials and violators it can investigate but makes no mention of riots.
They also said a criminal investigation should be carried out after the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove Yoon from office in a separate impeachment proceeding.
Lawyers issued a statement on Friday welcoming the court’s decision, saying the CIO investigation was illegal and calling on prosecutors to restart the investigation.
