Seoul: South Korean military prosecutors have requested a court martial to grant bail for four detained military commanders over their alleged roles in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law imposition, as their detention periods are soon set to expire, officials said Tuesday.
The prosecution has made the request for Army Chief of Staff Gen Park An-su, who served as martial law commander, Lt. Gen Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defence Counterintelligence Command, Lt. Gen Lee Jin-woo, former chief of the Capital Defence Command, and Major Gen Moon Sang-ho, former commander of the Defence Intelligence Command.
The prosecution sought bail on the condition that the defendants are prohibited from meeting others related to martial law, among other conditions, citing concerns of destruction of evidence if they are released without conditions when their statutory six-month detention periods begin to expire later this month, Yonhap news agency reported.
On Monday, former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who had been detained on charges of insurrection over his alleged role in the December 3 martial law imposition, filed an appeal to cancel a court decision granting him bail.
Earlier in the day, the Seoul Central District Court accepted the prosecution’s request for Kim’s bail despite an objection from Kim’s side, with just 10 days left until Kim’s detention period was set to expire.
Kim was arrested on December 27 for recommending martial law to Yoon and drafting the decree. He is accused of deploying troops from various units to the National Assembly during martial law to prevent lawmakers from voting to reject Yoon’s martial law declaration.
Kim’s legal team filed for the appeal and requested a stay order to suspend the court decision, arguing the move effectively extends the detention of their client, who was soon to be released.
“It is not a decision to release but merely a means to illegally extend the state of detention that Kim is in,” the team said.
“This is an unconstitutional measure that artificially restricts the basic rights of the defendant and unfairly limits his freedom of action.”
The court set bail at 100 million won ($73,400) and imposed conditions that, among others, ban him from meeting or communicating with Yoon and others related to the martial law case.
Usually, bail is requested by the defendants. In this case, however, the bail request was made by the prosecution.
Kim’s six-month statutory detention period was set to expire June 26, which means he was supposed to be freed only 10 days later without any restrictions.
Kim’s objection to the bail was overridden by the court, which apparently seeks to block any unexpected variables that may arise during the ongoing martial law-related trials.
Kim had earlier filed for bail about a month after his arrest, but the Seoul Central District Court did not accept the request at the time. He then appealed that decision, which was turned down by the Seoul High Court.
(IANS)
