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SEOUL (Reuters) – Yoon Suk Yeol, the impeached president of South Korea, plans to go to court on Saturday to fight a request by investigators to extend his detention on treason charges, his spokesman said.
Yoon on Wednesday became the country’s first sitting president to be arrested, in a criminal investigation related to his interim declaration of martial law on December 3.
Investigators requested an arrest warrant on Friday to extend their stay on Yoon by 20 days. He has refused to speak to investigators and has been held at the Seoul Detention Center since his arrest.
Police were seen breaking up a crowd of Yoon supporters who had blocked the gate of the Seoul West District Court, where the trial is expected to begin at 2pm (0500 GMT). A decision is expected on Saturday or Sunday.
“He decided to go … to restore his honor by clearly explaining the validity of the martial law and that the rebellion is not established,” Yoon’s lawyer, Yoon Kab-keun, he said in a statement.
Treason, a crime charged against Yoon by the Office of Corruption Investigation for High-Level Officials, is one of the few charges against which a sitting South Korean president cannot defend himself.
A detention hearing usually takes about two hours in South Korea but can take eight to 10 hours if disputes escalate.
