What ex-South Korean leader Yoon faces following his new arrest over martial law

SEOUL South Korea AP Four months after his release South Korea s disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sent back to a detention center after a Seoul court issued a warrant for his arrest Thursday Yoon s brief ill-fated imposition of martial law on Dec led to his indictment on charges that he directed a rebellion which is punishable by life imprisonment or death Prompted by concerns he might destroy evidence Yoon s arrest could mark the start of a prolonged period in custody as investigators pursue additional charges Yoon defended his martial law decree as a necessary step to quash anti-state liberal opponents accusing them of abusing their legislative majority to obstruct his agenda But the order lasted only hours until a quorum of lawmakers broke through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers at the National Assembly and voted to overturn the order Here is what Yoon faces in one of the majority explosive criminal cases in South Korea s history How he ended up back in a cell Yoon s self-inflicted downfall extended a decadeslong run of South Korean presidencies ending badly But the outspoken conservative who was removed from office in April is the first South Korean president to be arrested disclosed and then arrested again within months Yoon became the country s first sitting president to be detained following a Jan raid on his official residence in Seoul by hundreds of anti-corruption investigators and police which came days after presidential protection forces blocked an attempt to take him into custody Seoul Western District Court later granted a formal arrest warrant citing concerns by investigators that he could destroy evidence The decision triggered a riot by his supporters Anti-corruption investigators then transferred the episode to general prosecutors who indicted him Jan on rebellion charges in the Seoul Central District Court describing Yoon s hourslong power grab as an illegal attempt to seize the legislature and polling offices and arrest political opponents Following a challenge from Yoon s defense association the court ordered his release on March citing unresolved questions about whether anti-corruption investigators had proper authority to detain him This allowed Yoon to stand trial for rebellion without being held in custody He also attended his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court which formally removed him from office in April There were moments when Yoon appeared to use his freedom to display defiance such as when he indicated up at a theater in May to watch a documentary film justifying his martial law decree weeks ahead of the snap vote to choose his successor Another attempt to arrest Yoon became predictable after the country s new president Lee Jae Myung a liberal who won the June vote fast approved act to launch special investigations into Yoon s martial law debacle and other criminal assertions involving his wife and administration Yoon s criminal episode is now being handled by a unit of investigators led by special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk whose group questioned Yoon twice before submitting a request for his arrest warrant over the weekend Investigators are pursuing new charges In their arrest warrant request Cho s organization cited additional charges they are pushing against Yoon including obstructing official duties abuse of power and falsifying and destroying documents Those charges stem from accusations that he sidestepped legally mandated actions before attempting to enact martial law such as deliberation by a properly convened Cabinet meeting and fabricated documents including a martial law proclamation in a belated attempt to satisfy formal requirements Yoon also is suspected of ordering presidential defense administrators to delete server records tied to secret phones which refer to devices equipped with anti-wiretapping tool he allegedly used to communicate with military commanders involved in carrying out the martial law order He also faces accusations of unlawfully deploying presidential safeguard forces like a private army to block an initial attempt by law enforcement to detain him at his residence in early January Yoon s lawyers have denied all the accusations and accused the special prosecutor of conducting a rushed unsubstantiated inspection driven by political motives Yoon may face extended detention No longer afforded the assurance privileges of a sitting president Yoon will give up his personal belongings receive a serial number undergo a medical checkup change into light-green prison clothes and be confined to a small solitary cell reportedly equipped with a television toilet sink table and mattress He will be required to wake up and go to bed at designated times eat in his cell and wash his own dishes according to the detention center which did not provide further details citing defense rules He may have to get used to it His new arrest could mark the beginning of an extended period in custody potentially lasting months or longer Yoon can initially be held at the detention center for up to days while the special prosecutor aims to indict him on additional charges If Yoon is indicted on new charges he could be held for up to six months until an initial court ruling If the court convicts him and hands down a prison term Yoon would serve his sentence even as the event potentially moves to higher courts mentioned Park SungBae a lawyer specializing in criminal law Investigators also could extend Yoon s detention by pursuing further charges possibly including claims that he deliberately sought to inflame tensions with rival North Korea to create a pretext for his authoritarian push It s practicable that the verdict in the rebellion trial could take more than six months given the large number of defendants involved but there s a strong likelihood that Yoon will receive prison sentences on the other indictments before then declared Park who views the charges related to blocking the initial arrest attempt as particularly damaging Yoon s lawyers could ask the court to review the legality of his arrest or seek his release on bail But it s unclear whether such efforts would succeed given the severity of the charges and the court s view that Yoon poses a threat to destroy evidence Park disclosed Source