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Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s impeached president, who is facing trial on insurrection charges over his decision to impose martial law in December, was released from a detention centre on Saturday, a day after a court ruled his detention invalid.
On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court determined that prosecutors had violated procedural rules by detaining Mr Yoon beyond the legally permitted period before his indictment in January. The court stated that this procedural breach rendered his detention invalid.
Rather than appealing the ruling within the allotted week, prosecutors requested his release.
Mr Yoon was seen smiling broadly and waving at supporters as he walked out of a detention centre south of Seoul, where he had been held since 15 January.
“I bow my head in gratitude to the people of this nation,” Yoon said in a statement released through his lawyers.
His release does not affect the insurrection charge he faces in a Seoul criminal court concerning his martial law declaration, nor does it impact the separate proceedings at the Constitutional Court. That body is currently reviewing whether his parliamentary impeachment was lawful and whether he should be formally removed from office. However, his release means he will remain free while standing trial.
