S.Korea court appoints new lawyers for ousted Park

A South Korean court on Wednesday assigned five state attorneys to defend disgraced former president Park Geunhye, following her defense team’s resignation last week in protest at the extension of her detention period until April next year.

Park is standing trial accused of bribery, abuse of power and coercion, having been forced to step down in March after parliament voted to impeach her at the end of 2016.

She has been held in detention since late March, although under South Korean law a defendant in a criminal trial at a lower court can be detained for a maximum of six months.

Citing concerns that Park could destroy evidence if she was released, the Seoul Central District Court issued an additional arrest warrant on October 13 in order to extend her detention by six months.

The court’s move prompted her entire defence team to quit in protest at a session on October 16. Having lost her legal team, Park gave health reasons for her failure to attend a session three days later.

“After witnessing the collapse of the presumption of innocence and the principle of investigation without detention, we concluded that our efforts to defend Park will be meaningless,” Park’s former lawyer, Yoo Yeong-ha, told the court last week.

“The court’s decision to issue an additional arrest warrant will remain as one of humiliating moments in South Korea’s judiciary history,” Yoo said.