Court orders South Korea’s Yoon released from jail

SEOUL

A South Korean court on March 7 ordered impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol to be released from jail, more than a month after he was arrested and indicted over his short-lived imposition of martial law.

The decision by the Seoul Central District Court would allow Yoon stand trial while not being physically detained. The hearings in his separate impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court concluded in late February and the court is expected to rule soon on whether to formally remove him from office or reinstate him.

The Seoul Central District Court said it accepted Yoon’s request to be released from jail because the legal period of his formal arrest expired before he was indicted in late January . The court said the investigative agency that detained Yoon before his formal arrest didn’t have legal rights to investigate the criminal rebellion charges.

Yoon's defense team welcomed the court's decision and urged prosecutors to release him immediately. The presidential office also welcomed the court’s decision, saying it hopes Yoon will swiftly return to work.

However, South Korea law allows prosecutors to hold a suspect temporarily while they pursue an appeal.

Investigators have alleged that the martial-law decree amounted to rebellion. If he’s convicted of that offense, he would face the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Yoon’s martial law decree , which involved the dispatch of troops and police forces to the National Assembly, evoked traumatic memories of past military rules among many South Koreans. The decree lasted only six hours as enough lawmakers managed to get into an assembly hall and voted to overturn it unanimously.

If the Constitutional Court upholds Yoon’s impeachment, he will be officially thrown out of office and a national election will be held to choose his successor within two months.