Yoon Sak Yeol, the bluffed South Korean president who is on trial for rebellion charges over his decision to impose martial law in December, was released from the detention center on Saturday a day after the court ruled that his detention was invalid.
Seoul Central District Court ruled on Friday that the prosecutor violated procedural rules by having prosecutors been detained longer than legally permitted before prosecuting him in January. The procedural violations have voided Mr. Yoon's detention, the court said.
Prosecutors, who had been in the process of appealing the decision, demanded that he be released instead.
Yoon smiled widely and waved to his supporters as he left the detention centre south of Seoul from January 15th. He clenched his fist in a winning gesture, bowed towards the hundreds of supporters gathered outside the prison, waving the flag and waving “Yoon Suk Yeol!”
His release will not affect the charges of the rebellion he faces in Seoul Criminal Court related to the declaration of martial law, or separate cases in the constitutional court. The agency is deliberating whether his parliamentary ammo is legal and whether he should be officially removed from his position. But that means he will be free while he stands.
After a short ride from the detention center, Yoon returned to his presidential residence on a hilltop in central Seoul. Thousands of supporters lined up the streets to cheer him on as a convoy with Yun approached his residence. Mr. Yun came out of his car temporarily to shake hands with supporters who called his bullet each and the charges of rebellion against him “fraud” designed by his political enemies.
Yoon still sounds rebellious, calling his legal struggle “a fight to protect South Korea's freedom and the rule of law” and “a decisive position against those who want to take power by illegal means.”
“I will continue this fight with the people,” Yun said in a statement.
His release on Saturday was the latest twist of political upheaval and uncertainty that was unleashed when he declared martial law on December 3, calling the opposition-controlled parliament a “monster” and “paralyze” the government.
His sudden imposition of martial law sparked rage among the people, urging thousands of people to hurry to prevent the army from taking over Congress. It gave lawmakers time to overthrow his orders. His martial law ended in six hours.
Yun's party blocked the parliament's first attempt to fire each of him with accusations that it had disrupted the constitutional order. However, he fired each of him on the second attempt on December 14th, halting him from office until the Constitutional Court delivered final decision on his political fate.
Separately, prosecutors chased him in rebellions and other criminal charges. Their first attempt to restrain him on January 3rd was aborted while he was punctured in his residence and surrounded by his bodyguards, refusing to hand over himself. He surrendered only on January 15th when police and prosecutors visited again.
He is the first president in South Korean history and is detained on criminal charges while still in office.
His lawmakers have since tried to release him, challenging his blast each, his arrest and criminal charges against him.
Eventually, Yoon was released from prison for procedural errors as to how long the warrants prosecutors used to detain him. By law, if the prosecutor fails to prosecute a criminal suspect before such warrant expires, the suspect must be released from detention.
Prosecutors who believed Yoon's warrant would expire at 7:39pm on January 26th, indicted him about an hour earlier. However, in ruling Friday, a three-person judge panel at Seoul Central District Court said the warrant expired on the morning of January 26th.
The court's ruling did not address the criminal charges Yoon faced. However, his release is expected to encourage his supporters. His critics were also afraid that he would try to gather their support in increasingly polarized terms to divide the country and put pressure on judges deliberating on his case.
Prosecutors said Saturday that they decided not to appeal the court's decision as it is unlikely they will win. However, they vowed to win a major criminal trial against Yun.
