A South Korean court has found former President Park Geun-hye guilty on
multiple counts of abuse of power, bribery and coercion and sentenced
her to 24 years in prison.
Her conviction brings to close a
corruption scandal which gripped South Korea, upending the country’s
politics and implicating some of the country’s most powerful figures…
“The President abused the power which was given to her by the citizens,”
the judge said, adding a tough sentence was needed to send a firm
message to the country’s future leaders. Prosecutors had asked for Park
to receive a 30 year sentence.
Park, 66, was found guilty of 16
of the 18 charges she faced, related to a massive influence-peddling
case that removed her from office last year. As well as the prison
sentence she was also fined $17 million.
The former president was
not in the Seoul Central District Court to hear the verdict. Park and
her lawyers refused to participate after the court decided to live
broadcast the judgment, the first time this has happened in South Korea,
after a law was passed last year to enable it.
Park lawyer’s are expected to appeal her sentence.
Outside
the court, hundreds of supporters of Park had gathered to watch the
verdict on a large screen, waving Korean and US flags and calling for
the former president’s release.
Older, conservative South
Koreans, who remembered the dictatorship of Park’s father fondly as a
period of strength for the country, were her electoral base and a common
sight throughout the impeachment process.
Dramatic downfall
South
Korea’s first female president, and the daughter of former dictator
Park Chung-hee, Park Geun-hye was arrested in March 2017 shortly after
she was stripped of her office by the country’s Constitutional Court,
which upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach her.
That vote came
after millions of South Koreans took to the streets over a period of
several months to demand Park’s ouster, after revelations of the alleged
massive influence wielded by her adviser and confidant, Choi Soon-sil.
Choi,
the daughter of a cult leader once accused of having “complete control
over Park’s body and soul during her formative years,” held no political
office but is accused of using her influence over the President to
funnel money to organizations she controlled and get her daughter a
place at an elite university.
Park was accused of being unduly
influenced by Choi. The court which upheld her impeachment agreed with
accusations that Park had abused her authority in helping Choi raise
donations from companies for foundations she had set up.
In
February, Choi was sentenced to 20 years in jail on 18 charges including
abuse of power, coercion, fraud and bribe, and fined $16.6 million.
Also
implicated in the scandal was Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong. The
49-year-old billionaire was found guilty of bribery and other corruption
charges last year and sentenced to five years in prison, but in
February a higher court reduced his sentence and suspended it for four
years.
Source: CNN
