SEOUL: South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol will not attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial next week because of safety concerns, his lawyer said on Sunday.
Yoon has been holed up in the presidential residence and protected by an elite guard force since being suspended and impeached last month, following a short-lived declaration of martial law that plunged the country into political chaos.
He has refused to meet prosecutors and investigators and his presidential guard unit thwarted an attempt to arrest him following a tense, hours-long standoff earlier this month.
The Constitutional Court has scheduled five trial dates spanning January 14 to February 4, which will proceed in his absence if he does not attend.
“Concerns about safety and potential incidents have arisen. Therefore, the President will not be able to attend the trial on January 14,” lawyer Yoon Kab-keun said in a statement sent to AFP.
“The President is willing to appear at any time once safety issues are resolved.”
The court will decide whether to uphold his impeachment or restore him to office.
Separately, investigators seeking to question Yoon on insurrection charges linked to his ill-fated martial law declaration are preparing another arrest attempt.
His lawyers have repeatedly said an initial seven-day warrant and the new one they secured this week were both “unlawful.”
Investigators have kept secret the length of the new warrant, with local media reports saying it is longer than the previous seven days.
Rival protesters for and against Yoon have gathered almost daily in the South Korean capital since the crisis unfolded.
On Sunday more demonstrations were planned by rival camps outside Yoon’s residence and on the streets of Seoul — either calling for his impeachment to be declared invalid or for him to be detained immediately.
The president’s legal team say his guards remain on “high alert.”
Yoon would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested if investigators are able to detain him.
If convicted, he faces prison or even the death penalty.
A team of Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) officials and police are planning for the next attempt, which they said could be their last.
The CIO said anyone obstructing their attempt could be detained themselves and police reportedly held a meeting of top commanders on Friday to plan for the renewed effort.
Former Presidential Security Service (PSS) chief Park Chong-jun — who resigned on Friday and was automatically replaced by a more hard-line Yoon loyalist — told reporters there must be no bloodshed in any second arrest attempt.
He faced two days of questioning and did not explain his resignation.
“I am cooperating as diligently as possible with the authorities’ investigation,” he told reporters Saturday.
His replacement, acting PSS chief Kim Seong-hun, refused to turn up to a third summons on Saturday claiming he had to protect Yoon, opening him up to possible arrest.
Lee Jin-ha, head of the service’s security and safety division, was questioned on Saturday.
The National Office of Investigation, a police unit, sent a note to high-ranking police officials in Seoul requesting they prepare to mobilize 1,000 investigators for the fresh attempt, the Yonhap news agency reported.
As the crisis goes on Yoon’s ruling party has seen a bump in approval ratings.
A Gallup survey published Friday showed the People Power Party’s approval rating had risen to 34 percent from 24 percent three weeks ago.
South Korea’s Yoon will not attend first impeachment hearing
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South Korea’s Yoon will not attend first impeachment hearing
- Yoon Suk Yeol has been holed up in the presidential residence and protected by an elite guard force
- The Constitutional Court has scheduled five trial dates spanning January 14 to February 4
Spain closes Russia probe against Catalan separatist leader
- A judge from a lower court placed Puigdemont under investigation for high treason
- The Supreme Court said in a statement it had “decided to close the proceedings” opened into the “alleged Russian interference in the Catalan independence process“
MADRID: The Spanish Supreme Court on Thursday said it had closed a treason investigation against Catalonia’s exiled separatist figurehead Carles Puigdemont over alleged Russian interference in the region’s failed 2017 secession bid.
The worst crisis Spain had experienced in decades saw the wealthy northeastern region hold a secession referendum and proclaim a short-lived declaration of independence whose aftershocks continue to reverberate.
A judge from a lower court placed Puigdemont under investigation for high treason to determine whether he had contacts with the Kremlin or tried to gain Russian support for Catalan independence in return for financial compensation.
The Supreme Court said in a statement it had “decided to close the proceedings” opened into the “alleged Russian interference in the Catalan independence process.”
Spain’s top court last year shelved a separate investigation against Puigdemont for a terrorism charge related to 2019 protests in Catalonia against prison terms handed out to separatist leaders for their role in the secession bid.
Puigdemont has lived in exile in Belgium since the crisis and remains Spain’s most-wanted fugitive as he was excluded from the remit of an amnesty law introduced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s leftist government to heal tensions.
But his Junts per Catalunya party wields outsized influence in national politics as its seven MPs often determine whether Sanchez’s minority government passes legislation in the hung parliament.
Indonesia aims to strengthen academic, research ties with Saudi Arabia
- Kingdom is among top destination countries for Indonesian students
- Indonesian minister eyes more research projects with Saudi universities
JAKARTA: Indonesia aims to strengthen academic, scientific, and research ties with Saudi Arabia, its Ministry of Higher Education said on Thursday, following talks on future collaboration with the Kingdom’s envoy to Jakarta.
Indonesia’s Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Brian Yuliarto met with Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Faisal Abdullah Amodi on Wednesday to discuss plans for cooperation in higher education between their two countries.
“We are committed to expanding cooperation between Indonesian and Saudi universities,” Yuliarto said in a statement.
“We hope that more Indonesian professors can collaborate with their counterparts at the top Saudi universities, partnering in more programs and research projects.”
Further talks are expected to take place after Eid Al-Fitr, involving rectors from Indonesian universities, the ministry said.
There are currently more than 2,000 Indonesians studying in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the top destination countries for young scholars from the Southeast Asian nation.
Saudi-Indonesian ties span centuries, but have gained momentum in recent years following King Salman’s visit to Indonesia in 2017, which has since sparked more bilateral exchanges.
In education, cooperation includes exchange programs and Saudi scholarships for Indonesian students.
Saudi Arabia’s higher education sector is observing a boom and becoming globally competitive and innovative, in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Focusing on quality, international partnerships, STEM education, and research, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a leader in education in the Gulf region.
Saudi Arabia has also sponsored the development of multiple schools and universities in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Spain court remands ex-UN official wanted by US for fraud
- An internal UN court ruled last year that Vitaly Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian, secretly collected $3 million in gifts
- Spain’s top criminal court on Wednesday ordered he be remanded in custody because he poses a flight risk
MADRID: A Spanish court has ordered a former top UN official wanted on suspicion of fraud which cost the agency millions of dollars to be remanded in custody, according to a ruling made public Thursday.
An internal UN court ruled last year that Vitaly Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian, secretly collected $3 million in gifts, including a new Mercedes, from a British businessman while he invested more than $58 million of the body’s money in the man’s companies.
At the time he was the deputy head of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), a little-known agency that acts as a kind of general contractor for other arms of the organization.
Vanshelboim was put on leave in 2021 while the UN investigated the allegations and was sacked in early 2023. He moved to Spain three years ago.
A New York court in January issued an international arrest warrant for Vanshelboim for alleged bribery, money laundering and electronic fraud.
Spain’s top criminal court on Wednesday ordered he be remanded in custody because he poses a flight risk, according to a ruling made public on Thursday.
While Vanshelboim has family and economic ties in Spain, “such ties cannot be considered sufficiently strong to counter the aforementioned risk, given that he has only been living here for three years,” the court said.
The UN has said it lost the bulk of the more than $58 million in UNOPS funds which Vanshelboim entrusted to the British businessman.
The scandal led to an overhaul of the agency and embarrassed the UN.
Jewish protesters flood Trump Tower’s lobby to demand the Columbia University activist’s release
- Mahmoud Khalil helped lead student protests on the Manhattan campus against Israel’s war in Gaza
- Jewish Voice for Peace protesters chanted 'Bring Mahmoud home now!'
NEW YORK: Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of a Columbia University activist who helped lead student protests on the Manhattan campus against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, who carried banners and wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel,” chanted “Bring Mahmoud home now!“
After warning the protesters to leave the Fifth Avenue building or face arrest, police began putting them in zip ties and loading them into police vans outside about an hour after the demonstration began.
Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent US resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. President Donald Trump has said Khalil’s arrest was the first “of many to come” and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”
Police, who were staged inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building ahead of the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave.
Among the protesters was actor Debra Winger, who has discussed her Jewish faith and upbringing over the years.
Winger accused the Trump administration of having “no interest in Jewish safety” and “co-opting antisemitism.”
“I’m just standing up for my rights, and I’m standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location,” she told The Associated Press. “Does that sound like America to you?”
Khalil’s supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country. Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case.
Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations, both against and in support of its namesake, though protests inside are less common. The building’s main entrance opens to a multi-story atrium that is open to the public and connects visitors to stores and eateries such as the Trump Grill.
Khalil, 30, was being detained at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup.
Columbia was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across US college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests.
Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia master’s degree in December. Born in Syria, he is a grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers said in a legal filing.
Belgium carries out raids in EU parliament corruption probe
- About 100 police officers took part in the operation that saw a total of 21 searches conducted across Belgium and in Portugal
- The probe was linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei and its activities in Brussels since 2021
BRUSSELS: Belgian police on Thursday raided several addresses in the country as part of a probe into alleged corruption “under the guise of commercial lobbying,” prosecutors said.
Several people were held for questioning over their “alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries,” the federal prosecutor’s office said.
About 100 police officers took part in the operation that saw a total of 21 searches conducted across Belgium and in Portugal, it added.
Belgian newspaper Le Soir and investigative website Follow the Money (FTM) said the probe was linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei and its activities in Brussels since 2021.
Huawei did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The raids come more than two years after the “Qatargate” scandal, in which a number of EU lawmakers were accused of being paid to promote the interests of Qatar and Morocco — something both countries have strenuously denied.
The prosecutor’s office gave no details about the individuals or companies involved.
But it said the alleged corruption by a “criminal organization” was “practiced regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day” and took “various forms.”
These included “remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches” as part of a bid to promote “purely private commercial interests” in political decisions.
The alleged kickbacks were concealed as conference expenses and paid to various intermediaries, the office said, adding it was looking at whether money laundering had also been involved.
At the heart of the alleged corruption is an ex-parliamentary assistant who was employed at the time as Huawei’s EU public affairs director, Belgian media said.
Le Soir said police had taken “several lobbyists” into custody and they were due to appear in front of a judge for questioning.
None of those held for questioning on Thursday morning were EU lawmakers, a police source told AFP.
A spokesperson for the European Parliament told AFP that it “takes note of the information. When requested it always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities.”
