Prosecutors raid CIO over suspicions involving court warrants against Yoon

The headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province is seen in this January file photo. Yonhap

Prosecutors raided the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) Friday over suspicions that it tried to conceal a court's initial denial of search warrants for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law imposition.

Investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office raided the CIO's headquarters to secure evidence related to the allegations, according to officials.

The search came after Yoon's lawyers recently claimed that the CIO had requested search warrants against Yoon from the Seoul Central District Court, but the court denied the request. Later, the CIO separately filed for a detention warrant with the Seoul Western District Court, which issued it, leading to the detention of Yoon in January.

Yoon's lawyers claimed that the CIO intentionally shifted to the Seoul Western District Court for the detention warrant to increase the chances of obtaining it.

Yoon's side filed a complaint against the CIO's chief, claiming that the CIO responded negatively to a ruling party lawmaker's question about whether it had sought search warrants against Yoon from the central district court.

The anti-corruption investigation office, however, refuted such claims, claiming that it sought the warrant from the Seoul Western District Court only because the presidential residence is located under the court's jurisdiction. (Yonhap)