Though unlikely, Yoon may face dying penalty if discovered responsible of getting ready coup with final 12 months’s declaration of martial regulation.
South Korea’s impeached former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has denied costs of riot as his legal trial opened.
The ousted chief argued within the Seoul Central District Courtroom on Monday that his declaration of martial law 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 dying 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 attempting to paralyse state establishments similar to parliament.
“The defendant … made it not possible for constitutional establishments to train their authority based mostly on an illegal declaration,” the prosecution mentioned.
Yoon, who was the nation’s chief prosecutor earlier than turning into president, spent about 40 minutes refuting the allegations.
“Martial regulation is just not a coup d’etat,” the previous president mentioned. He added that he had no intention of paralysing the nation however that martial regulation was wanted to alert the folks to the actions of the bulk opposition get together.
He mentioned 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 mentioned.
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 beneath 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 beat back particular operations troopers attempting 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 elevate the martial regulation”. Yoon has denied this allegation.
Specialists say Yoon’s legal trial is more likely to be a prolonged one.
“The primary verdict is more likely to be delivered round August, however the case entails round 70,000 pages of proof and quite a few witnesses. So if deemed needed by the court docket, the trial could also be prolonged,” lawyer Min Kyoung-sic instructed the AFP information company.
If discovered responsible, Yoon would change into 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 dying, it’s extremely unlikely that sentence can be carried out since South Korea has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.
