South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared at a Seoul court on Thursday for the first hearing of his criminal trial over insurrection charges, during which his lawyers demanded his release from jail.
TV footage aired by local broadcasters showed justice ministry vehicles leaving the Seoul Detention Centre where Yoon is being held before arriving at the court where lines of police buses were parked outside to ensure security.
The court heard a bid by Yoon's lawyers to cancel his detention as they argued that the insurrection probe had been conducted in an illegal manner, and that there was no risk of Yoon trying to destroy evidence.
Prosecutors last month indicted Yoon after accusing him of leading an insurrection with his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3.
The charges are unprecedented for a sitting South Korean president, and if convicted, Yoon could face years in prison for his martial law decree, which shocked the country and sought to ban political and parliamentary activity and control the media.