Seoul, Jan 5 (IANS) A Seoul court on Sunday dismissed the injunction filed by President Yoon Suk Yeol that sought to invalidate the court warrants to detain him and search the Presidential residence, court officials said.
The Seoul Western District Court made the decision days after Yoon’s legal defence team lodged the objection to suspend the effect of the warrants that they called “illegal.”
No details on the grounds for the court’s dismissal were immediately available.
Yoon’s legal team said they would consider appealing the ruling.
“We will consider whether to file an appeal with the Supreme Court,” Yun Gap-geun, Yoon’s lawyer, said. “The dismissal does not mean that the warrants are legally valid.”
The same court approved the warrant to detain Yoon for questioning over his role in the failed December 3 martial law bid. It also issued a warrant to search the presidential residence compound in central Seoul.
Yoon’s legal team has argued that the warrants were legally flawed, claiming the judge who issued them arbitrarily ruled that the criminal law prohibiting the execution of search or arrest warrants in restricted military and security areas does not apply to Yoon’s case.
Earlier in the day, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol’s lawyer said that he would file a complaint with the prosecution this week seeking an investigation into the chief of South Korea’s anti-corruption agency handling Yoon’s martial law case and other police officers for attempting to execute a warrant to detain Yoon.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) unsuccessfully attempted to execute the court warrant for Yoon’s detention on Friday, engaging in a standoff with the Presidential Security Service that ended after six hours as the CIO decided to withdraw its officials, citing safety concerns.
Yun Gap-Geun, Yoon’s defence attorney, said in a statement to the media that his team will lodge the complaint on Monday against some 150 law enforcement officials, including CIO chief Oh Dong-woon, Yonhap news agency reported.
“They will be looking at charges of obstruction of justice, illegal entry into buildings and violations of military facility protection laws,” Yun said.
The 150 individuals include senior prosecutors at the CIO, acting National Police Agency Commissioner-General Lee Ho-young and acting Defence Minister Kim Seon-ho.
Yoon’s legal team accused them of mobilising police special forces to execute the court warrant, although they do not have the legal authority to control police.
Some staff members of the Presidential Security Service were injured while preventing the investigation team from entering the military security facility by breaking through the main gate of Yoon’s residence, it said.
Yoon’s side also argued that the police and defence ministry neglected their duties by defying the requests from the Presidential security and acting President Choi Sang-mok to ramp up security around Yoon’s residence compound.
–IANS
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