Yoon’s lawyers claim special counsel’s arrest warrant unlawful
The special counsel team investigating former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief martial law declaration has requested an overseas travel ban on him, sources said Wednesday, a day after seeking a warrant to have the ousted leader arrested.
Led by Cho Eun-suk, the independent counsel formally asked the Ministry of Justice to impose the travel restriction as part of its expanded probe into Yoon’s alleged insurrection. The team assumed control of the high-profile case earlier this week from prosecutors and police.
A travel ban on Yoon was lifted in March as he was released from pretrial detention after the court accepted the then-president's request to cancel his remand and prosecutors dropped plans to appeal.
"The recently issued travel ban is a continuation of previous restrictions that were in place," explained a special counsel representative. "Since the prosecuting authority has changed, the new agency is required to reassess the necessity of the travel ban and file a new request accordingly. The renewed ban was part of this process as the case was transferred to us (from the police)."
Whether Yoon's arrest warrant will be approved is expected to be decided by the Seoul Central District Court as early as Wednesday.
The request follows the team’s move on Tuesday to seek a court-issued arrest warrant, citing Yoon’s repeated refusal to appear for questioning. He defied three police summonses over his controversial Dec. 3 martial law declaration, a decree that ultimately led to his removal from office.
Yoon's lawyers strongly pushed back on the special counsel’s request for an arrest warrant on Wednesday, calling it a “procedurally unlawful” move that violates his right to defense.
In a written statement submitted to the Seoul Central District Court, Yoon’s legal representatives argued that the special counsel had overstepped its legal bounds in seeking the warrant without a prior summons or investigation.
“Former President Yoon has not received a single summons notice from the special counsel. He has not been informed of the location of the special counsel’s office, the prosecutor in charge, or even the room in which he would be questioned,” Yoon’s legal team said. “Requesting an arrest warrant while skipping every basic step of due process is incomprehensible and constitutes a grave violation of the defendant’s rights.”
Yoon’s lawyers further contended that it is not “legally valid” for the special prosecutor to base an arrest warrant on a prior refusal to comply with police summonses, as the counsel and the police are separate investigative bodies.
“We hope the court will make a wise and careful judgment,” Yoon’s legal representatives added.
Yoon is accused of ordering the Presidential Security Service to block the execution of a detention warrant against him by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in early January this year and to delete records of his phone communications with military commanders related to his martial law decree.
lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com
