By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, a number of cupboard ministers, navy commanders and police officers face felony investigations over the president’s botched try on Dec. 3 to impose martial legislation.
Prosecutors, the police and the Corruption Investigation Workplace for Excessive-ranking Officers have all launched probes into Yoon and the officers, looking for to pursue fees of revolt and abuse of energy, amongst others.
Here’s what we all know concerning the investigations thus far:
WHO IS UNDER INVESTIGATION?
In addition to Yoon, his former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, former inside minister Lee Sang-min and military chief Park An-su, who was named martial legislation commander, face investigations.
Others concerned within the case embody the chiefs of the Capital Defence Command, the military’s Particular Warfare Command and the Defence Counterintelligence Command, in addition to a number of different navy generals and senior police officers, together with the nationwide and Seoul police chiefs, who’re accused of taking part in a job within the martial legislation plan.
The primary opposition Democratic Get together stated final week that it has additionally filed a criticism towards appearing President Han Duck-soo to be included within the investigations for failing to dam Yoon’s try at martial legislation.
Yoon, Kim, Lee, the nationwide and Seoul police chiefs and greater than 10 navy commanders have been banned from leaving the nation.
A joint investigation staff from the police, the defence ministry and the Corruption Investigation Workplace for Excessive-ranking Officers (CIO) plan to name Yoon in for questioning at 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Wednesday, after he defied prosecutors’ summons over the weekend.
Kim has been refusing to attend prosecutors’ questioning, after being summoned no less than 3 times since his arrest on Dec. 8, in line with the Yonhap information company.
The joint investigation staff was making an attempt to raid Yoon’s workplace on Tuesday, after earlier makes an attempt by prosecutors failed after the presidential safety service blocked their entrance, Yonhap stated.
There have additionally been raids of the defence ministry and numerous navy and police workplaces in current days. A number of navy commanders had been arrested, together with chiefs of the Military, the Defence Counterintelligence Command and the Capital Defence Command.
WHO LEADS INVESTIGATIONS?
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Workplace has created a particular investigation bureau to look at the case for the primary time because it probed a 2016 corruption scandal engulfing then-President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached and ultimately ousted.
The staff consists of some 50 prosecutors and investigators, and a couple of dozen navy prosecutors have additionally been drafted in, its head Park Se-hyun stated.
The nationwide police company has additionally confirmed the launch of its investigation, which Yonhap stated contains some 150 officers and investigators.
The CIO individually opened an investigation after receiving complaints about nationwide police chief Cho Ji-ho and different senior police officers.
The three-way joint staff got here amid rising issues about indicators of rivalry amongst probing companies and requires concerted efforts to stop overlaps and enhance effectiveness.
CIO head Oh Dong-woon stated on Wednesday that talks with prosecutors had been below approach on how to combine their work however any fast conclusion appeared unlikely.
The parliament handed payments final week for the appointment of particular counsels to spearhead a collective investigation with help from different companies.
WHAT CHARGES ARE SOUGHT?
The officers face potential fees of revolt, abuse of authority and obstructing different folks from exercising their rights.
If convicted, the crime of main an revolt is punishable by demise or life imprisonment, with or with out jail labour. For many who participated in an revolt plot or engaged in different important actions punishment may vary from demise to life imprisonment down to imprisonment with out jail labour for no less than 5 years. Individuals who merely joined within the plot or violence face imprisonment, with or with out jail labour, for lower than 5 years.
Abuse of authority brings penalties of imprisonment for lower than 5 years or fines of up to 10 million gained ($7,000), whereas obstructing different folks’s rights is punishable by a jail time period of lower than 5 years or fines of up to 7 million gained.
South Korea final handed down a demise sentence in 2016, however has not executed anybody since 1997.