Shin Yong-hae, the former head of the Korea Correctional Service accused of seeking to secure detention space inside Ministry of Justice correctional facilities during the Dec. 3 martial law, has been indicted without detention.
The second comprehensive special prosecutor team led by Kwon Chang-young said in a media notice on the 7th that it indicted the former Deputy Minister on charges of participating in important duties related to insurrection without detention. The former Deputy Minister is accused of ordering the securing of detention space for violators of the martial law proclamation under instructions from former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae during martial law.
According to the indictment, the former Deputy Minister ordered the Seoul Detention Center to prepare for the arrest and detention of proclamation violators and ordered the preparation of detention space for those violators. The former Deputy Minister also reportedly ordered an emergency review of parole to secure space for detaining proclamation violators and issued instructions to heads of correctional institutions nationwide to prepare for detaining proclamation violators.
Earlier, the insurrection special prosecutor team led by Cho Eun-suk detected indications that the former Deputy Minister had checked the detention capacity of metropolitan-area detention centers and investigated, but transferred the case to police late last year when the investigation period ended. The police special investigation headquarters that took over the case then sent it to prosecutors in late January, and after the comprehensive special prosecution was launched, the case was handed over.
Meanwhile, former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae was taken into custody in court after being sentenced to 25 years in prison at the first trial on charges including involvement in the martial law. Park appealed the first-trial ruling, and the appellate trial is underway.