The court on the 17th rejected the detention validity review requested by former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong, who was arrested on charges including dereliction of duty.
The Seoul Central District Court said that after reviewing the detention validity petition for Cho, who was arrested on charges including dereliction of duty and violating political neutrality under the National Intelligence Service Act, it rejected the request. Duty judge Cho Young-min said, "Based on the suspect interrogation and the case record, this petition is deemed groundless," stating the reason for dismissal. As a result, Cho will continue to be investigated while in custody.
A detention validity review is a procedure in which a court determines whether a suspect's arrest during the investigation stage is lawful. Earlier, Cho's side was said to have submitted a detention validity petition on the grounds that the special counsel had already secured most key evidence through searches and seizures and interviews with related persons, so there was no "risk of evidence destruction," a reason for detention. The special counsel, by contrast, reportedly prepared a 135-page opinion to stress the legality of the arrest-based investigation.
On Dec. 3 last year, Cho was allegedly called in by former President Yoon Suk-yeol and, after hearing in advance the plan to declare emergency martial law before the national address, failed to report it to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, thereby neglecting his duties.
He is also accused of violating the duty, specified in the National Intelligence Service Act, to refrain from political involvement by providing the People Power Party alone with closed-circuit (CC) TV footage showing the movements of former National Intelligence Service First Vice Director Hong Jang-won during the martial law period, while withholding from the Democratic Party of Korea, citing national security, footage showing his own movements.
Cho is also accused of giving false testimony at the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court and submitting false written answers to bodies including the National Assembly's special committee for a fact-finding probe into the alleged insurrection.
He is further accused of destroying evidence by participating in the deletion of secure phone data involving former President Yoon and former Vice Administrator Hong. After Hong disclosed the call history with former President Yoon, a call took place between Cho and former Presidential Security Service Chief Park Jong-jun, and afterward the secure phone records were deleted.