A South Korean court has authorized the arrest of ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short proclamation of martial law last December, supporting special prosecutors who alleged he would try to destroy evidence.
Yoon, who was removed from power in April after a Constitutional Court impeachment verdict, was arrested on Wednesday following a seven-hour hearing in court. He was detained before in January but let out in March on bail.
Special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk is now pushing for more charges, such as abuse of power, falsification of public records, and obstruction of government functions. Yoon’s lawyers condemned the arrest warrant as excessive and not based on substantial evidence.
The martial law, put in place on December 3, lasted only briefly before lawmakers were able to cut through a military barricade at the National Assembly and reverse the decree. Yoon justified his actions as required to crack down on what he said were “anti-state” liberal forces stymieing his political agenda.
Prosecutors accuse the action of being an unconstitutional power grab to take over legislative and electoral institutions and illegally jail political rivals. He could be charged with rebellion a crime that can incur sentences from life imprisonment to the death penalty under South Korean law.
Yoon is also accused of circumventing legal processes, such as not holding a Cabinet meeting prior to proclaiming martial law. He is also accused of utilising presidential security personnel as a personal militia to deter the police from arresting him at his home in early January.
The arrest comes after heightened scrutiny under new President Lee Jae Myung, Yoon’s previous liberal opponent, who has signed into law bills that approve of broad probes into Yoon’s activities and other grievances involving his family and administration.
Yoon is currently detained at a Seoul-area detention facility awaiting trial.