South Korea’s anti-corruption agency has requested that police take over efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after its investigators failed to bring him to custody following a standoff with the presidential security service last week. The agency and police confirmed the discussion on Monday, hours before the one-week warrant for Yoon’s detention was to expire. The Seoul Western District Court last Tuesday issued a warrant to detain Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after the embattled president defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning over his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3. But executing those warrants is complicated as long as Yoon remains in his official residence. Yoon has described his power grab as a necessary act of governance against a liberal opposition bogging down his agenda with its legislative majority and has vowed to “fight to the end” against efforts to oust him. While martial law lasted only several hours, it set off turmoil that has shaken the country’s politics, diplomacy and financial markets for weeks and exposed the fragility of South Korea’s democracy while society is deeply polarized. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials will likely seek a new court warrant to extend the window for Yoon’s detention, according to police, which said it was internally reviewing the agency’s request. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the anti-corruption agency will make another attempt to detain Yoon on Monday before the deadline expires at midnight. The anti-corruption agency has faced questions about its competence after failing to detain Yoon on Friday, and police have the resources to possibly make a more forceful attempt to detain him. Yoon’s legal team claimed in a statement that the agency’s move to delegate execution of the detainment warrant to police is illegal, saying there’s no legal grounds for it to delegate certain parts of an investigation process to another agency. Yoon’s lawyers had submitted an objection to the warrants against the president on Thursday, but the Seoul Western District Court dismissed the challenge on Sunday. Yoon’s legal team has said it will file complaints against the anti-corruption agency’s chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and approximately 150 investigators and police officers involved in Friday’s detention attempt, which they claim was unlawful. The team said it will also file complaints with public prosecutors against the country’s acting defense minister and police chief for ignoring the presidential security service’s request to provide additional forces to block the detention attempt. South Korean investigators attempt to detain impeached President Yoon The anti-corruption agency, which leads a joint investigation with police and military investigators, has been weighing charges of rebellion after Yoon declared martial law and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly. Lawmakers who managed to get past the blockade voted to lift martial law hours later. Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended after the opposition-dominated National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion, and his fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him. 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. After getting around a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds, the agency’s investigators and police were able to approach within 200 meters (about 218 yards) of Yoon’s residential building but were stopped by a barricade comprising around 10 vehicles and approximately 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops. The agency said it wasn’t able to visually confirm whether Yoon was inside the residence. The agency has urged the country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to instruct the presidential security service to comply with their execution of the detainment warrant. Choi has yet to publicly comment on the issue. In a video message on Sunday, Park Jong-joon, chief of the presidential security service, hit back against criticism that his organization has become Yoon’s private army, saying it has legal obligations to protect the incumbent president. Park said he instructed his members to not use violence during Friday’s standoff and called for the anti-corruption agency and police to change their approach. Warrant to detain impeached South Korean President Yoon sought Park and his deputy defied summonses on Saturday from police, who planned to question them over the suspected obstruction of official duty following Friday’s events. Staff from the presidential security service were seen installing barbed wire near the gate and along the hills leading up to Yoon’s residence over the weekend, possibly in preparation for another detention attempt. Yoon’s lawyers argued the detention and search warrants against the president cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge — which would be Yoon. They also argue the anti-corruption office lacks the legal authority to investigate rebellion charges. Hundreds of South Koreans rallied near Yoon’s residence for hours into early Monday, wrapping themselves in silver-coated mats against the freezing temperatures. It was their second consecutive night of protests, with demonstrators calling for his ouster and arrest.

Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon on Monday said that the anti-corruption drive of the government has grinded to a halt. “Corruption is a part of development.  But those countries that are on the path of development have taken strict measures to prevent corruption,” he said. Rashed Khan Menon said this while participating in the discussion of the thanksgiving motion on the President's speech in the Parliament. He said that China has punished 150,000 persons for various terms on corruption charges.   “Which includes Politburo members.  Vietnam has sacked its deputy prime minister.  But what have we done in the case of ministers and bureaucrats? No we don’t,” he said. Also Read: 191 news portals to be blocked for anti-state propaganda: Info Minister Rashed Khan Menon said that he will not talk about defaulted loans and money laundering.   “There has been a lot of talk about this in Parliament.  In this case, the government's thinking is like that you can say whatever you want, bit I will not pay any heed,” he said. Rashed Khan Menon said that the US and western imperialism wanted to involve Bangladesh in their plot of war in Russia and Ukraine, whichnis leading the world towards third world war. “The Prime Minister has managed to keep Bangladesh away from it so far.  And this is why all those forces are so vocal about our elections and democracy.” Menon made it clear that Bangladesh's democracy and elections are its own affairs.   “They should rather take care of their own matters and talk about others later,” he added. Criticising BNP, Rashed Khan Menon said that they have given 27 points to repair the state is an attempt to take the state back to the 'illegal fifth amendment era'.   “Their 'Rainbow Nation' stands for  abolishing the verdicts of the war criminals trials.”  

The US Embassy in Dhaka has congratulated this year’s Anti-Corruption Champion Award winner from Bangladesh journalist Rozina Islam. The US Secretary of State announced Anti-Corruption Champions from eight countries who are "changing the world" for the better through their work to fight for transparency and accountability. "On International Anti-Corruption Day, we recognize these champions who are members of government, the press, civil society, and the judiciary." Read more: ARTICLE 19 greets journalist Rozina Islam The US State Department recognized eight honorees from around the world, highlighting the United States’ efforts to promote anti-corruption reform.  The ACCA recognizes individuals who have demonstrated leadership, courage, and impact in preventing, exposing, and combatting corruption. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken launched the ACCA in February 2021 to demonstrate the Biden Administration’s commitment to combating corruption.  Read more: Journalists demand unconditional release of Rozina Islam Due to previous COVID-19 restrictions, this will be the first award ceremony hosted in-person.

A newly founded anti-corruption party held a narrow lead in the preliminary vote count from Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections Sunday. A parallel count conducted by Gallup International gave the centrist We Continue the Change party 26.3% of the votes, leading the center-right opposition GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov by just over three percentage points. READ: Bangladesh receives 2.70 lakh AstraZeneca doses from Bulgaria Founded only few weeks ago by two Harvard graduates, Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev, the party quickly won support due to their resolute anti-graft actions and pledges to bring transparency, zero tolerance for corruption and reforms to key sectors in the European Union's poorest member. “We will be the number one political force,” Petkov told reporters after initial results were released. “We will have a majority of 121 MPs in the 240-seat parliament and Bulgaria will have a regular coalition Cabinet.” It could be days before the final official results are announced. If they confirm the initial counts, Petkov would be handed a mandate to form a new government. Petkov said his party was open to coalition talks with all the parties that were part of last year’s protests against Boyko Borissov’s government. Investigations by the current caretaker government showed alleged corruption cases. “Now is the time to show that Bulgaria has embarked on the road of change and there is no turning back,” said Petkov. After Bulgaria held inconclusive general elections in April and July, many hoped this third attempt to elect 240 lawmakers would result in a government that can lead the country out of its health and economic crises. READ: Bulgaria arrests 6 soccer fans following racist acts  Five other parties appeared headed to winning spots in the 240-seat chamber, according to the exit poll. They include the ethnic Turkish MRF party with 11.4%, the Socialist Party with 10.4% support, the anti-elite There is Such a People party with 9.3%, the liberal anti-corruption group Democratic Bulgaria with 6.4%, and the nationalist Revival party with 5%. The vote Sunday for a new parliament and a new president came amid a surge of coronavirus infections. The Balkan country is the least vaccinated in the EU, with less than one-third of its adults fully vaccinated. Bulgaria reported 334 COVID-related deaths last week in a single day, a pandemic record. The Gallup International exit poll also suggested that President Rumen Radev has a commanding lead in his quest for a second five-year term but will still have to face runner-up Anastas Gerdzhikov in a Nov. 21 runoff as voter turnout remained below the needed 50%. Radev, a vocal critic of Borissov, said Sunday that he voted for freedom, legality, and justice. “These are the values I stand for,” he said after casting his ballot. “The stakes are huge and will determine whether the process of consolidating statehood will continue or those acting from behind the scenes will regain institutional power.” Some 6.7 million people were eligible to vote. The Central Election Commission said preliminary voter turnout was nearly 40%, lower than in previous elections.