Seoul, July 15 South Korea's special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team failed Tuesday at its second attempt to bring in former President Yoon Suk Yeol from his detention cell for questioning over his martial law bid.
The team had sent instructions to the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, just south of the capital, to bring Yoon to its interrogation room by 2 p.m.
But Yoon refused to cooperate during two attempts by correctional officers on Monday and Tuesday, according to the team. The officers reported they could not use physical force due to his status as a former president.
"The suspect's legal team has not stated any intent regarding the questioning since our first attempt yesterday," assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing.
"We take that as a refusal to undergo any questioning."
Park noted that the criminal justice system requires questioning to take place, though a suspect has the right to remain silent.
Refusing questioning will count against the suspect and could affect the level of punishment in sentencing, she added.
The former president has refused to comply with repeated summonses by the special counsel team since his second arrest last Thursday.
In a statement to the press Tuesday, Yoon's lawyers criticised the special counsel team for insisting on bringing him in when he could be questioned at the detention centre.
"It is nothing more than an attempt to publicly humiliate a former president," they said.
The assistant special counsel said the correctional officers will be held responsible for their failure to execute the team's order.
"We questioned the correctional officers regarding the detailed circumstances of their failure to execute our instruction to bring in suspect Yoon Suk Yeol," Park said.
It is possible the special counsel will opt to indict Yoon without additional questioning if the pattern continues.
Yoon is accused of five key charges, including violating the rights of Cabinet members by calling only a select few to a meeting held shortly before he declared martial law December 3.
He is also suspected of creating a false martial law declaration document after December 3 to add legitimacy to his actions, and having it signed by then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and then Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun before discarding it.
This is the second time Yoon has been arrested, Yonhap news agency reported.
The first time was in January when he was still in office, but a court later accepted his request to cancel his arrest, granting his release in March.
Yoon has since been standing trial on insurrection and abuse of power charges related to his failed martial law bid.
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