Second trial over alleged obstruction of Yoon’s arrest attempt to be broadcast; public to see Yoon again after first trial

The appeal trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly obstructing an arrest attempt by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and the police, has approved live broadcasting, following the first-instance trial.
According to legal sources on the 3rd, Presiding Judge Yoon Sung-sik of the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1, with Judge Min Seong-cheol as the associate judge, has allowed broadcasting of the first appeal hearing scheduled for the 4th in the case where Yoon is charged with obstructing the execution of special official duties and other offenses.
The broadcast was approved by the court at the request of the Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok.
On January 16, former President Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison in his first-instance trial at the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 35, presided over by Judge Baek Dae-hyun. He was found guilty on charges including obstruction of the execution of special official duties, abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights, falsification of official documents, and violation of the Presidential Records Act. Yoon is accused of blocking the execution of an arrest warrant by the CIO and the police and infringing on cabinet members’ rights to deliberate and vote.
The panel in charge is the Special Panel for Insurrection Cases, which was formed following a decision at the General Assembly of Judges of the Seoul High Court on the 5th of last month. During the random assignment process, the number of criminal divisions remained at 16, but judges from the 17th and 18th classes of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, who are classmates of former President Yoon and former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, were excluded from the draw. Earlier, the Seoul High Court decided at two General Assemblies of Judges to designate two out of 16 criminal divisions and to require, as basic conditions, at least 17 years of legal experience and at least 10 years of judicial experience.
theknight@fnnews.com Reporter Jeong Kyung-soo Reporter