South Korea - Choi Soon-sil's fate to be decided after court hearing Thursday: ARIRANG NEWS

ARIRANG NEWS

Published on Nov 2, 2016

최순실 구속 이르면 오늘 결정...안종범 前 수석 긴급체포

Later today,... the top court in the Korean capital will decide whether to approve the arrest warrant for Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the heart of a power abuse scandal.

Prosecutors could also seek an arrest warrant for a former presidential secretary.

Lee Minyoung reports. 

The question of whether Choi Soon-sil,... President Park Geun-hye's confidante and the woman at the heart of a political scandal that has thrown the entire nation into a state of paralysis,... will be arrested could be decided as early as Thursday, after a hearing that starts at 3 p.m.

Choi's lawyer had previously told reporters... that his client will be present at the hearing.
A fierce battle is expected between state prosecutors and Choi's defense attorney.

Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Choi on Wednesday afternoon on two charges -- being an accomplice to a crime of abuse of authority... and attempted fraud.

She does not hold an official post but is being accused of using her connections to the president to pressure corporations to make large contributions to two government-linked foundations.

The attempted fraud charge relates to the funds she allegedly raised for the two foundations in question... and then funneled into a paper company for her own personal use.

Later on Wednesday, former presidential secretary Ahn Jong-beom, who has been charged with being the main perpetrator in a crime of abuse of authority,... was also arrested without warrant.

The decision came roughly ten hours after he first appeared for questioning by prosecutors as a suspect in the ongoing abuse-of-power scandal surrounding Choi.

The reason,... prosecutors say,... was that he had denied the primary charges against him... and has been found to have pressured key witnesses into making false statements before he appeared for questioning.
Prosecutors also say they had reason to believe Ahn could attempt to destroy evidence unless he was detained.

Prosecutors must file a court request for an arrest warrant within 48 hours of the booking, so they could file the request for the warrant Thursday... after questioning him on whether he used his influence to coerce conglomerates into giving large donations to the two foundations and if other officials from the presidential office were involved in the process.

Lee Minyoung, Arirang News.