The 2nd comprehensive special investigation team, led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young, is expected to ultimately drop its plan to indict former President Yoon Suk Yeol and others under the Military Criminal Act for the charge of rebellion regarding the Dec. 3 emergency martial law imposition.
This decision appears to have been influenced by concerns over double jeopardy, as the previous year's special investigation team on insurrection has already indicted the martial law proclamation under insurrection charges, with trials currently underway.
The Criminal Procedure Act stipulates that the court must dismiss an additional indictment for a case where prosecution has already been instituted.
The comprehensive special investigation team's probe into rebellion charges had faced question marks from the beginning.
Regarding a similar case, the May 17 military rebellion, the Supreme Court ruled that a rebellion charge does not apply to riots subverting the Constitution ordered or approved by the president, who holds the supreme command of the military.
It defined rebellion strictly as "acts of breaking away from or rebelling against the command and control system."
Therefore, even at that time, it was determined that only insurrection charges—not rebellion charges—applied to the soldiers' arrest of politicians and the suppression of the Gwangju protests, due to the fact that there were orders and post-approval through the chain of command including the president.
It is reported that the previous special investigation team on insurrection also reviewed applying rebellion charges, but refrained from doing so after considering Supreme Court en banc precedents such as the one mentioned above.
An official from the previous insurrection special investigation team explained, "Initiating an investigation by applying military rebellion charges to the Dec. 3 emergency martial law incident is a waste of investigative resources and goes against legal principles."
Nevertheless, some raise the opinion that the comprehensive special investigation team's pursuit of the rebellion charges stemmed from a desire to show results.
Unlike the charge of heading an insurrection, which carries penalties of the death penalty, life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without prison labor, the charge of heading a rebellion results in a 100% death sentence if proven.
Critics point out that after spending about three months obsessing over the rebellion charge to differentiate themselves from the previous insurrection special investigation team, they have ultimately ended up wasting time.
(Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video edited by Seo Byeong-wook | Designed by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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