Supreme Court upholds 20-year sentence for ex-President Park Geun-hye

'국정농단•특활비' 박근혜 징역 20년•벌금 180억원 확정

South Korea's highest court upheld former President Park Geun-hye's 20-year prison sentence.
She was impeached in 2017 for bribery and other crimes.
This means Park is now eligible for a special pardon.
Kim Do-yeon delves deeper into the developments.
The sentence of 20 years in prison for Park Geun-hye,... the former President of South Korea,... has been finalized by the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the highest court of the country upheld the ruling of the lower court, which included fines worth 16 million U.S. dollars and the forfeiture of 3-point-1 million.
In the prison sentence, 15 years are for bribery and the rest are for abuse of power and other crimes.
She had already been given two years for convictions that she did not appeal,... so that's 22 years in total.
"The final verdict from the Supreme Court marks the end of a four-year political drama that stirred up the country. It also means four former presidents have now been convicted of a crime committed while in power."
The case started in late 2016... when a news program reported on the content of a tablet PC it had obtained... that showed the extent of the influence over the President held by her close confidant Choi Soon-sil specifically, that Park had given Choi access to confidential information and even let her edit her speeches.
The revelation prompted massive protests in the street, and led to Park's impeachment by the National Assembly.
Five months later, the Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment, and the prosecution began a criminal investigation.
Park made her first appeal to the Supreme Court in 2019... over her sentence, at the time, of 30 years.
The Supreme Court told the lower court to reconsider the sentence, and it was reduced to the now-final 20 years.
The presidential Blue House said the ruling correctly reflects the values that South Korea's constitution holds and that no such case should ever be repeated.
Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News.

#SouthKorea #Supreme_Court #ParkGeunhye

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2021-01-14, 22:00 (KST)