SEOUL, Police said Monday they will not request an arrest warrant for the teenage assailant accused of attacking ruling party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin with a rock last month.
“He is currently hospitalized, so there is no point in seeking an arrest warrant for him as of now,” said Woo Jong-soo, the National Office of Investigation chief during a press conference Monday.
The 15-year-old boy was detained shortly after striking Bae of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) in the head more than 15 times with a rock in Seoul’s southern district of Gangnam on Jan. 25.
Police questioned the suspect in the presence of his guardian, then put him under “emergency hospitalization” at a psychiatric hospital, a set of measures that hospitalizes individuals with suspected mental illness for up to three days over the urgent risk of inflicting harm on themselves or others.
After the emergency measures expired Tuesday, police hospitalized the suspect involuntarily, with the consent of his parents and continued interrogating hi
m in the inpatient ward.
The suspect, currently under “protective hospitalization,” can be hospitalized for up to three months, with the possibility for an extension of up to six months, according to police, adding they plan to decide whether to refer him to prosecutors before the date expires.
Source: Yonhap News Agency