Prosecutors seek 30 years’ jail for ousted SKorea leader
SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a 30-year-jail sentence for former president Park Geun- hye, sacked over a wide-ranging corruption scandal which exposed shady links between big business and politics and prompted massive street protests.
The 66-year-old daughter of a Park has also been charged with former dictator was dismissed in March 2017 and has now been in total of 77.4 billion won to two dubicustody for almost a year. ous foundations controlled by Choi.
“We ask the court to hand down The Seoul Central District Court earlier this month found Choi 118.5 billion won [$110 million] for guilty of abuse of power, bribery the accused, who must take ultimate and interfering in government responsibility for the scandal as the business and sentenced her to 20 18th president of this country,” years in prison. prosecutors said in a statement. The verdict and sentence was
They said Park, in collusion with seen as a potential pointer to the decision in Park’s separate trial time friend Choi Soon-sil, took or in the same court, because 15 of was promised bribes totaling 59.2 the 18 charges Choi faced mirror billion won ($52 million) from charges against the ex-president. three South Korean companies, A date for the verdict on Park Samsung, Lotte and SK, in return may be announced at the end of for policy favors. Tuesday’s session.
“The accused [Park] abused her power delegated by the people for private gain for Choi and herself... violated core constitutional values on the protection of the market economy and free democracy,” the statement said.
“Consequently, the accused sacked through impeachment, leaving an indelible scar on the country’s constitutional history.”
The prosecutors also rebuked Park for “allying with the chaebol instead of the people,” in reference to the country’s family-controlled large conglomerates, accusing her of strengthening “unhealthy ties between political power and economic power.”
They also decried her attitude toward justice.
When allegations about Choi’s misdeeds started surfacing in news media, Park tried to mislead public opinion and denounced the reports as “political offensives,” prosecutors said.
“When the court issued an arrest warrant for the accused Park, she tried to cover up the true picture of the case by describing the move as political revenge.”
Park since October has stopped attending the court, which she denounces as politically biased.
Some legal experts believe she is in an even worse position than Choi was, noting that the judge who sentenced Choi had denounced Park for having “delegated” presidential authority to a private individual.
Park, daughter of late dictator Park Chung-Hee, was brought up in Seoul’s presidential Blue House.
The scandal sent her oncebulletproof approval ratings to record lows, with tens of thousands taking to the streets for months calling for her ousting. But she retained a loyal following from groups of mainly older rival protesters.