South Korean Ex-President Yoon absent from insurrection trial for 4th time

Seoul, Aug 11 (IANS) The insurrection trial of jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol was held without his attendance for the fourth consecutive time Monday.

The Seoul Central District Court held a scheduled trial hearing for the first time since July 24, following a two-week summer break for all courts, but Yoon did not appear.

The former president has been standing trial on charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power through his short-lived imposition of martial law in December, Yonhap news agecny reported.

He has refused to attend the hearings since July 10, however, when he was incarcerated for the second time over the martial law plan, citing his deteriorating health.

His lawyers have said the former president is in particular pain since last Thursday when investigators from special counsel Min Joong-ki's team tried to physically remove him from his detention center to question him over election meddling allegations involving him and his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

The court previously said it would consider bringing him in by force in the event he continued to skip his trial.

Barring that option, the court could try him in absentia.

Insurrection carries a maximum sentence of life in prison or death.

Earlier on Thursday, a special counsel team suspended its execution of a warrant to interrogate Yoon over allegations of election meddling, citing concerns of injury due to his "stubborn refusal."

This is the second time special counsel Min Joong-ki's team has failed to execute the detention warrant for Yoon following the first attempt last Friday.

"We directed the Seoul Detention Centre to execute the detention warrant at around 8:25 a.m., and used physical force, but upon accepting opinions on-site that due to former President Yoon's stubborn refusal, there are concerns of injury, we suspended the execution around 9:40 a.m.," the team said in a notice to the press.

Yoon's lawyers issued a statement denouncing the detention attempt as "public shaming."

--IANS

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