Court ‘dismisses’ request to review President Yong’s arrest… Corruption Investigation Office expected to request arrest warrant on the 17th

President Yoon Seok-yeol filed a request to the court to review the adequacy of the arrest, claiming that the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office had made an “illegal arrest,” but it was not accepted. Accordingly, President Yoon’s arrest status will remain, and the Corruption Investigation Office is expected to request an arrest warrant on the 17th.

Judge So Jun-seop of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 32 dismissed President Yoon’s claim after conducting an arrest suitability examination for two hours from 5 p.m. on the 16th. Judge So said, “Since the claim in this case is recognized as groundless, it is dismissed pursuant to Article 214-2, Paragraph 4 of the Criminal Procedure Act.”

Previously, President Yoon’s defense team filed a request for a review of the adequacy of his arrest at the Seoul Central District Court the day before. Arrest adequacy review is a system in which the court reviews whether the arrest by an investigative agency is legal and releases the person if it is illegal or unreasonable. President Yoon’s position is that the Corruption Investigation Office’s investigation itself is an illegal investigation because the Corruption Investigation Office has no authority to investigate treason crimes under the Corruption Investigation Office Act, and the arrest warrant issued by the Seoul Western District Court is also an illegal arrest warrant that violates the jurisdiction under the Corruption Investigation Office Act.

The Corruption Investigation Office Act establishes the Seoul Central District Court as the exclusive jurisdiction for cases prosecuted by the Corruption Investigation Office, and stipulates that cases can be prosecuted in other courts in special circumstances (Article 31 of the Act). However, since this provision is a regulation that determines the jurisdiction of cases that the Corruption Investigation Office can directly indict, the Corruption Investigation Office cannot indict. In this case, where the records must be sent to the prosecution and the prosecution must indict, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which will transfer the case, will respond. President Yoon’s side argued that the Seoul Central District Court, a court, has jurisdiction.

As President Yoon’s request for an arrest warrant was dismissed, the Corruption Investigation Office is expected to request an arrest warrant as early as the 17th. Originally, the deadline for the Corruption Investigation Office to decide whether to request an arrest warrant was 10:33 a.m. on the 17th, 48 hours after the arrest. However, the time from the court’s receipt of investigation-related documents and evidence to the time they are returned after the decision is excluded from the ’48-hour limit’ period, so the deadline for claims is expected to be extended until the night of the 17th.

<ⓒ투자가를 위한 경제콘텐츠 플랫폼, 아시아경제(www.asiae.co.kr) 무단전재 배포금지>