The South Korean prosecutor’s office demanded, Wednesday, May 20, 35 years in prison against the former president, Park Geun-hye, who had been dismissed then condemned after a resounding scandal of corruption and ‘abuse of power.
First woman elected president in South Korea, Mme Park was ousted in 2017 after massive protests sparked by revelations that she and her confidante had paid bribes to the country’s largest conglomerates in exchange for favors.
In 2018, she was sentenced to 32 years in prison for corruption, abuse of power, violation of the electoral law and for embezzling funds from the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Troubled acquaintances
During his appeal trial before the Seoul High Court, the prosecution asked for his sentence to 35 years’ imprisonment and that the fine be increased to 33.3 billion won (24.5 million euros) against 20 billion won previously, according to the Yonhap news agency. Mme Park, who has refused to attend most court proceedings for more than two years, boycotted the hearing, Yonhap reported. The court verdict will be released on July 10.
This corruption scandal had highlighted the troubled connections between family conglomerates in South Korea like Samsung, and political power, through Mme Park and his shadow adviser Choi Soon-sil, who had accepted bribes in exchange for political favors.
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