The special counsel investigating former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law bid has imposed a travel ban on him, sources said Wednesday, as the team sought a warrant to detain the ousted former leader the previous day.
The special counsel, led by Cho Eun-suk, has placed an overseas travel ban on Yoon, as part of follow-ups to investigate his insurrection charges after it took over the case from prosecutors and police earlier this week.
The move came as the special council filed for a warrant to detain Yoon on Tuesday, citing his refusal to comply with three summonses from the police for questioning over charges related to his Dec. 3 martial law declaration.
Yoon’s lawyers said Wednesday that an independent counsel’s request for a detention warrant for him is an unlawful act that lacks procedural legitimacy and violates his right to defense.
They made the claim in a written opinion submitted to the Seoul Central District Court, which is expected to decide whether to approve the warrant to detain Yoon on Wednesday at the earliest.
Special Prosecutor Cho’s team accused Yoon of ordering the Presidential Security Service to block the execution of a detention warrant against him by the state anti-corruption investigation agency in early January and delete his phone records with military commanders over his Dec. 3 martial law imposition.
Cho’s team also cited Yoon’s refusal to comply with three summonses from the police for questioning over the allegations.
“Former President Yoon has not received a single summons notice from the special prosecutor to date. He has not even been given any information about the location of the special prosecutor’s office, the prosecutor in charge and the prosecutor’s office to be questioned,” Yoon’s lawyers said in the written opinion.
“The special prosecutor’s request for a detention warrant for the former president without going through all the basic procedures is an incomprehensible measure and a serious infringement on his right to defense and human rights.”
They also noted that it is not legally valid for the special prosecutor to cite police summonses as the reason to seek a detention warrant because the independent counsel and the police are clearly separate investigative agencies.
