South Korean Anti-corruption Agency Receives New Court Warrant to Detain Impeached President Yoon

 A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as supporters of impeached Yoon stage a rally to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as supporters of impeached Yoon stage a rally to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
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South Korean Anti-corruption Agency Receives New Court Warrant to Detain Impeached President Yoon

 A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as supporters of impeached Yoon stage a rally to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as supporters of impeached Yoon stage a rally to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)

South Korea’s anti-corruption agency said it has received a new court warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after its previous attempt was blocked by the presidential security service last week.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials on Tuesday did not immediately confirm how long the warrant would remain valid.

The Seoul Western District Court last week had initially issued a warrant to detain Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after he defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning over Dec. 3 martial law decree.

Dozens of anti-corruption agency investigators and assisting police officers attempted to detain Yoon on Friday but retreated from his residence in Seoul after a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours.

The investigators did not make another attempt to detain Yoon before the previous court warrants expired on Monday.



Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

There was no immediate word from the Iranian government on the journalist’s release.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the country, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before on Dec. 16, on a US warrant.

The US Justice Department accused him and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a US outpost near the Syrian-Jordanian border that killed three American troops.

He remains in detention in Italy.