Under impeachment proceedings, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been indicted as « chef » of an insurrection due to his attempt to establish martial law, announced the prosecutors in charge of the investigation on Sunday January 26.
The magistrates accompanied their decision with an order to maintain Mr. Yoon in detention. The South Korean president was arrested last week. His martial law decree lasted only six hours on December 3 before being rejected by lawmakers, but it plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
Anti-corruption investigators last week recommended indicting Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached by Parliament and suspended from office. Yoon Suk Yeol has been the subject of a criminal investigation since he became the first sitting president to be arrested on January 15. His lawyers have called on prosecutors to immediately end what they say is illegal detention.
The insurrection is one of the few charges for which the South Korean president does not enjoy immunity. It carries a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty, although South Korea has not carried out an execution in decades.
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The Supreme Court must rule on his dismissal
At a Constitutional Court hearing in his impeachment trial, Yoon Suk Yeol and his lawyers argued last week that he never intended to fully impose martial law, but that he had simply taken these measures as a warning to break the political deadlock.
-Alongside the criminal proceedings, the Supreme Court will determine, within 180 days, whether to remove Yoon Suk Yeol or restore his presidential powers.
South Korea's opposition-led parliament impeached Yoon Suk Yeol on Dec. 14, making him the country's second conservative president. The president repealed martial law about six hours after lawmakers from the main opposition party, confronted by soldiers inside Parliament, voted against the decree.
Soldiers equipped with rifles, body armor and night vision equipment were seen entering the parliament building through broken windows during the confrontation.
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