The prosecutors of South Korea accused President Yoon Suk Yeol of leading an insurrection with his brief imposition of the martial law on December 3, Yoon’s lawyers said and the main opposition party.
Yoon’s lawyers criticized the accusation as the “worst election” made by the Prosecutor’s Office, while the main opposition party welcomed the decision with satisfaction.
The charges are not precedent for a South Korean president and, if he is convicted, Yoon could face years in prison for his impressive decree of the martial law, which sought to prohibit political and parliamentary activity and control the media.
His measure unleashed a wave of political agitation in the fourth largest economy in Asia and an important ally of the United States, with the prime minister also accused and suspended from power and several senior military officers accused of his role in the alleged insurrection.
“[The] The statement of the President of the Marcial Emergency Law was a desperate supplication to the public for a national crisis caused by the opposition control output, ”Yoon’s lawyers said in a statement.
The Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comments. The accusation was also informed by the media of South Korea.
The anti -corruption researchers recommended last week to present charges against the imprisoned Yoon, who was accused of Parliament and suspended from their functions on December 14.
Yoon, former superior prosecutor, has been in isolation since he became the first acting president arrested on January 15, after days of armed and challenging confrontation between his security team and the officials who arrested him.
During the weekend, a court twice rejected the prosecutor’s request to extend his arrest while carrying out additional investigation, but with the charges, they requested again that they remain in custody, media reports said.
The insurrection is one of the few criminal charges against which a South Korean president has no immunity. It is punished with life imprisonment or death, although South Korea has not executed anyone in decades.
“The Prosecutor’s Office has decided to accuse Yoon Suk Yeol, who faces positions of being leader of the insurrection,” said Democratic Party spokesman have Min-Soo at a press conference. “Now the punishment of the leadership of the insurrection finally begins.”
Yoon and his lawyers argued at a hearing in the Constitutional Court last week in his political trial that he never intended to completely impose martial law, but had only thought that the measures were a warning to break a political stagnation.
Parallel to the criminal process, the Superior Court will determine whether to dismiss Yoon from his position or restore his presidential powers. He has 180 days to decide about it.
The Parliament led by the opposition of South Korea dismissed Yoon on December 14, making him the second conservative president to be accused in the country. Yoon terminated his statement of martial law approximately six hours after legislators, confronting the soldiers in Parliament, rejected the decree.
During the dramatic confrontation, soldiers were seen with rifles, bulletproof vests and night vision equipment entering the Parliament building through broken windows.
If Yoon is dismissed from his position, presidential elections will be held within 60 days.
