Impeached president stages prison cell protest in his underwear

Telegraph

a day ago

South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol lay on his prison cell floor in his underwear to resist attempts to interrogate him, prosecutors said Friday.
A fresh arrest warrant was obtained on Thursday to forcibly bring the impeached former leader in for questioning over allegations of election tampering.
However, they were 'unable to do so due to his strong refusal', prosecutor Oh Jeong-hee told reporters, as he lay on the floor of his cell on Friday and refused to leave.
Mr Yoon was removed from office in April by the constitutional court over his botched attempt last year to declare martial law.
Political turmoil
On December 3, he sent troops into parliament to prevent lawmakers from voting down the declaration, plunging the country into political turmoil.
He now faces a litany of charges, ranging from insurrection to election tampering, and is being investigated by a special prosecution team formed under the new president, Lee Jae Myung.
But when prosecutors tried to get him to comply with an arrest warrant and attend questioning voluntarily on Friday, 'the suspect refused arrest while lying on the floor without wearing his prison-issued clothing,' Ms Jeong-hee said.
'Due to concerns over safety incidents, physical force was withheld, and the execution of the warrant was temporarily suspended.'
'Serious nature of the situation'
Yoon was wearing 'a sleeveless top and prison-issued briefs,' prosecutors said, calling it the 'most appropriate way' to describe his attire given the 'serious nature of the situation'.
There was no information on the colour of his underclothing, they added.
Prosecutors informed Yoon that they would have to carry out physical force if necessary in the next attempt.
Yoon's legal team said the prosecutors had shown a 'disturbing disregard' for 'basic human decency'.
Yu Jeong-hwa, one of Yoon's lawyers, told Reuters that bringing up what he was wearing in a small space where the temperature was close to 40 degrees Celsius (104°F) was a public insult to his dignity and showed how the state was violating inmates' human rights.
'The special counsel turned what should have been a press briefing into a stage for personal humiliation,' Mr Jeong-hwa told AFP news agency.
'Significant challenges to maintaining his health'
Yoon's lawyers said the former president suffers from 'several underlying conditions that pose significant challenges to maintaining his health', making it difficult for him to fully cooperate with the investigation.
The former president was put back in a solitary cell at the Seoul Detention Centre in July, as prosecutors investigating his short-lived declaration of martial law sought additional charges against him.
Yoon is already on trial for insurrection, a charge which in South Korea is punishable by death or life imprisonment.
He also faces a string of other investigations led by special prosecutors, including one into scandals surrounding his wife, former First Lady Kim Keon Hee, where the couple allegedly exerted inappropriate influence over elections.
Yoon has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers have accused prosecutors of conducting a politically motivated witch hunt.