Seoul, Jan 17 South Korean anti-corruption agency investigating impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law case is 'nearly ready' to file for a warrant to formally arrest him, an official said on Friday.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) is 'highly likely' to file the warrant with the Seoul Western District Court, the CIO official told reporters during a press briefing, before a 48-hour deadline expires Friday night.
The CIO's decision comes after Yoon again refused to appear for questioning over his failed martial law bid Friday, the third day of his detention.
The CIO had ordered him to appear for further questioning at 10 a.m. after he failed to appear the previous day, citing health reasons.
"The president will not appear at the CIO today," Seok Dong-hyeon, Yoon's lawyer and longtime friend, told Yonhap News Agency. "He thoroughly stated his basic position during the CIO's questioning the first day and doesn't see any reason or need to respond to a question-and-answer type of interrogation."
Yoon has been held at a detention centre since Wednesday night after investigators apprehended him at his residence and brought him to the CIO office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, to undergo over 10 hours of questioning.
Yoon filed a request with the Seoul Central District Court to review the legality of his detention, but the court dismissed the challenge Thursday night, keeping him in custody, Yonhap news agency reported.
Earlier in the day, supporters of detained South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol staged overnight rallies in front of the Seoul Western District Court, where investigators were expected to file for a warrant to formally arrest Yoon.
People in support of Yoon gathered outside the court late Thursday and locked arms in an attempt to block investigators from delivering documents requesting the warrant to the court.
A man in his 20s was detained at the scene after pushing a court employee.
When police blocked the protesters from gathering in front of the court, they moved to a nearby park and continued their rally.
Meanwhile, police launched an investigation to track down the writer of an online post threatening to kill a justice of the Seoul Central District Court who rejected Yoon's petition to review the legality of his detention the previous day, Yonhap news agency reported.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is expected to file for the arrest warrant before a 48-hour deadline expires Friday night.
Seoul court also rejected a petition challenging the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in the ongoing investigation into his botched martial law bid, keeping him in custody a day after he was detained for questioning.
The decision by the Seoul Central District Court came a day after Yoon's legal representatives filed a petition seeking a review of the legality of his detention.
The previous day, investigators had detained Yoon for questioning over his December 3 martial law declaration after he ignored three summonses to appear for questioning in the investigation.
Thursday's court decision rejected claims from Yoon's side that the detention warrant against him, issued by the Seoul Western District Court, was invalid.
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