SEOUL, Dec. 21 (BNA): Police have once again sought an arrest warrant for the arrest of a former chief of Yongsan Police Station as part of their investigation into the botched response to deadly crowds in Seoul’s Itaewon district.
Earlier, a court denied a special investigation team’s request to arrest Lee Im-jae, the former chief of the Yongsan Police Station covering Itaewon District. Yonhap news agency reported that the court indicated the need to guarantee the suspect’s right to defence.
The investigation team submitted his arrest warrant to the court late Tuesday, and the court will hold a hearing to determine his arrest on Friday. The decision is expected late Friday or early Saturday.
Lee was booked for professional negligence and negligent manslaughter resulting in the deaths of 158 people.
The former president is also accused of arriving at the site late, some 50 minutes after the tragedy occurred.
Police said he is also accused of not taking adequate crowd control measures after earlier warnings of crowds during Halloween celebrations.
The police also requested an arrest warrant for the head of the Yongsan Ward office, Park Hee-young, and two ward officials.
Park was booked for professional negligence for failing to fulfill her duties to respond quickly to the incident.
A court hearing for Park is also scheduled for Friday, but that could be changed as she tested positive for COVID-19, court officials said.
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