Corruption investigators and police authorities have agreed to maintain their collaboration in the execution of an arrest warrant. against the president.
The agreement follows an earlier attempt by the former to entrust the task solely to the police.
Our correspondent Kim Do-yeon explains.
After backing down from the first attempt to detain President Yoon Suk Yeol last week, AND, with the arrest warrant being available for just a few more hours, on Monday morning the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials tried to entrust the police with the execution of the warrant.
However, the police declined to take charge.
“The Special Investigation Unit received an official directive from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials at approximately 7:00 AM today, regarding the execution of an arrest warrant and a search warrant. After conducting an internal legal review, it was determined that the directive from the CIO could be against the law”
This comes as the CIO, which is currently in charge, admitted that the institution lacks the experience and capacity to carry out arrests compared to the police.
However, the legal issue is that the request for the warrant was made by the CIO.
Also according to current laws, the CIO cannot transfer part of its investigative duties to another institution such as the police.
All in all, the joint investigation between the CIO and police continues.
As for the deadline for the warrant, the CIO will request another one, which is likely going to have an option to extend the deadline past 7 days.
With the first one issued already the CIO doesn’t expect an obstacle for the second warrant.
And with that the special investigation team made up of the CIO and police has now warned the Presidential Security Service that there will be arrests made at the scene if there is interference again during the second arrest attempt.
In the meantime, President Yoon’s legal team has yet again criticized the CIO’s move.
The president’s position remains, as has been stated several times, that the very act of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials investigating the president on charges of treason is inconsistent with the current legal framework. In other words, it is considered an unlawful investigation.
President Yoon’s legal team fired back by filing a complaint against 11 key officials involved in the warrant execution process.
Oh Dong-woon, the chief prosecutor for the CIO along with Lee Ho-young, the acting police commissioner, were named on the complaint.
In addition, military leaders were also listed on it.
The legal team said that amid protecting the president from the execution of the illegal arrest warrant, the President Security Service team’s request for backup was ignored, which is an obstruction of responsibility.
Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=279626
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