Prosecutors demand 12-year prison term for Samsung heir Lee
SEOUL — Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a 12-year prison term for Samsung’s jailed billionaire heir Lee Jae-yong, who maintained his innocence during an appeal of his conviction on bribery and other charges.
In August, a lower court sentenced Lee to five years in prison for offering bribes to former South Korean president Park Geun-hye and her confidante while Park was in office. Both Lee and prosecutors, who earlier had requested a 12-year prison term, appealed that ruling.
On Wednesday, prosecutors said during Lee’s appeal that they still want Lee to receive 12 years in prison, according to the Seoul High Court. Yonhap news agency later cited the court as saying it will issue a ruling on Lee Feb. 5, but calls to the court went unanswered. If the court’s ruling is appealed again either by Lee or prosecutors, his case will be handed over to the Supreme Court, which will make a final ruling.
Lee’s bribery case is part of a huge political scandal that led to the ouster of Park in late March after millions of South Koreans took to streets for anti-government rallies for months.
Park and her friend, Choi Soonsil, were arrested and charged with taking bribes from Samsung in return for helping Lee cement his control of the company for a smooth transfer of power.
Prosecutors have also charged both Park and Choi with pressuring Samsung and other big businesses to donate $68 million US for the launch of two non-profit foundations controlled by Choi.
Samsung, founded by Lee’s grandfather, is one of the key family-run South Korean conglomerates that have dominated the country’s economy. Some credit them with leading South Korea’s export-driven economy and rebuilding its economy from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War, but others say their successes were only possible because of corrupt, collusive ties with government officials.
“It was a typical case showing cosy, collusive ties between government and businesses,” special prosecutor Park Young-soo said during Wednesday’s court session, according to South Korean media.
Lee, who was convicted of embezzlement, hiding assets overseas and perjury, repeated a denial of the charges.
Lee, whose official title is vicechairman of Samsung Electronics, took a higher-profile role after his father and Samsung chair Lee Kun-hee suffered a heart attack in 2014.