Yoon's 'Additional Indictment' Court Requests Special Prosecutor to Amend Indictment... Full Hearing on the 26th of Next Month

[Financial News] In the case where the special prosecutor team for rebellion and foreign affairs (Cho Eun-seok special prosecutor) additionally indicted former President Yoon Seok-yeol, the court requested an amendment to the indictment. The reason given was that the content of the indictment was excessively verbose and needed to be organized.
Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 35 (Presiding Judge Baek Dae-hyeon) held the first trial preparation date for the additional indictment of former President Yoon on charges of obstruction of special official duties, abuse of authority, and falsification and use of official documents on the 19th. The trial preparation date is a procedure to confirm the positions of the defendant and the prosecution and to set future hearing plans before the formal trial, and the defendant is not obliged to attend. Former President Yoon did not appear in court.
The special prosecutor team pointed out that former President Yoon's side delayed the trial by applying for record viewing and copying late and requested a prompt hearing from the court. They then stated five allegations against former President Yoon: △ Violating the constitutional right to deliberate and decide by convening only some members of the State Council during the declaration of martial law △ Fabricating the martial law declaration document as if it was signed by former Prime Minister Han Deok-soo △ Shredding and discarding documents △ Deleting secure phone communication records △ Obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office.
In response, former President Yoon's side said, "We deny most (of the allegations)," and "The content has been sufficiently contested through habeas corpus and overlaps significantly with the rebellion (leader allegation) trial."
The court pointed out that the indictment was verbose compared to other cases and that it was inappropriate to include legal interpretations. The court said, "Even considering that it is a case investigated and indicted by the special prosecutor, the indictment is excessively long compared to other cases, including unnecessary details such as the former President Yoon's alma mater and commissioning period."
Furthermore, regarding the violation of the State Council's right to deliberate, the court criticized the inclusion of legal interpretation beyond quoting legal provisions, stating, "The application and interpretation of the law is the role of the court, and it seems inappropriate to include such parts in the prosecutor's indictment." The court repeatedly requested amendments to the indictment, judging that specifying the nature of the warrant execution or legal interpretation in the indictment related to the obstruction of the arrest warrant execution in the rebellion investigation was inappropriate.
On this day, the court asked former President Yoon's side, "In other cases, it seems you are not attending. Is it difficult for the defendant to attend court due to his current health condition?"
In response, the defense team said, "It is difficult to sit in the same place for a long time due to the current health condition," and "We are continuously checking his health and plan to attend the trial depending on the situation."
The special prosecutor announced plans to apply for about 130 witnesses in case former President Yoon's side disagrees with all the evidence. Considering the six-month deadline for the first trial verdict stipulated by the special prosecutor law, the court decided to hold weekly trials and scheduled the first trial date for September 26th at 10:15 a.m.
Meanwhile, former President Yoon is already on trial in the Criminal Agreement Division 25 (Presiding Judge Ji Gui-yeon) for charges of rebellion leader and abuse of authority. However, after being re-arrested by the special prosecutor on the 10th of last month, he has been absent five consecutive times until the previous day due to health deterioration.



scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter