Though unlikely, Yoon might face loss of life penalty if discovered responsible of making ready coup with final 12 months’s declaration of martial regulation.
South Korea’s impeached former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has denied expenses of riot as his felony trial opened.
The ousted chief argued within the Seoul Central District Courtroom on Monday that his declaration of martial regulation late final 12 months was “not a coup d’etat”. If discovered responsible of riot, Yoon might be sentenced to life in jail or obtain a loss of life sentence.
Yoon was formally stripped of workplace earlier this month after being impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his December 3 martial regulation declaration.
Prosecutors opened their case by arguing that Yoon lacked the authorized grounds to declare martial regulation and accused him of making an attempt to paralyse state establishments comparable to parliament.
“The defendant … made it unattainable for constitutional establishments to train their authority based mostly on an illegal declaration,” the prosecution stated.
Yoon, who was the nation’s chief prosecutor earlier than changing into president, spent about 40 minutes refuting the allegations.
“Martial regulation just isn’t a coup d’etat,” the previous president stated. He added that he had no intention of paralysing the nation however that martial regulation was wanted to alert the individuals to the actions of the bulk opposition occasion.
He stated that the opposition had been stonewalling the federal government by impeaching greater than 20 officers, which he noticed as a harmful threshold.
“This was a peaceable ‘message martial regulation’ to the nation… I knew this martial regulation would finish inside half a day – a day,” Yoon stated.
Though he had communicated this intention to then-Minister of Nationwide Defence Kim Yong-hyun, army officers finishing up the order appeared to have overstepped it as a result of they’re used to coaching for martial regulation underneath totally different tips, Yoon asserted.
The martial regulation declaration, which cited the necessity to root out “antistate” parts, was lifted six hours later after parliamentary staffers used barricades and fireplace extinguishers to thrust back particular operations troopers making an attempt to enter parliament, the place lawmakers voted to reject martial regulation.
The court docket will hear witness testimonies from two army officers referred to as by prosecutors, together with one officer who claims he was instructed by high commanders “to tug out the lawmakers gathered within the Nationwide Meeting to raise the martial regulation”. Yoon has denied this allegation.
Consultants say Yoon’s felony trial is prone to be a prolonged one.
“The primary verdict is prone to be delivered round August, however the case includes round 70,000 pages of proof and quite a few witnesses. So if deemed vital by the court docket, the trial could also be prolonged,” lawyer Min Kyoung-sic instructed the AFP information company.
If discovered responsible, Yoon would turn out to be the third South Korean president to be discovered responsible of riot – after two army leaders in connection to a 1979 coup.
Whereas he might be sentenced to loss of life, it’s extremely unlikely that sentence could be carried out since South Korea has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.
