The South Korean court earlier today the 6th
of April 2018 sentenced the countries ousted former President, Park Geun-hye to
24 years in prison for corruption, influence peddling and more. The Seoul
Central District Court after a yearlong trial and careful consideration of
evidence against the former head of state found Park guilty of bribery, extortion, abuse of power and other related charges.
Park is
a daughter of leader Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for about 18 years
until his death in 1979. Being the daughter of a feared Korean dictator during
the early years following the countries revolution may just be reason enough to
be the target of political intrigue and backstabbing. It is to be noted that
south Korean government lawyers during the year long court proceedings had
constantly demanded a 30-year prison term for the former president. This verdict
proclamation was broadcast on live television and the court's chief judge, Kim Se-yoon said the punishment was necessary to dissuade present or future
leaders of the country from similar
wrong doing in the future.
Added
to the heavy prison sentence, Park was fined more than $16 million. According
to South Korean judicial proceedings, the former South Korean leader has one
week to appeal the ruling. It is to be noted that eversince these accusations
were levied on Park, she has continually held strong to her innocence and refused to admit to any
wrongdoing. She further declared that she is a victim of politics and the vile plans of her political
opponents.
Among the
charges against are most importantly issues related to influence peddling and
meddling. Park was/is accused of siding with her childhood friend Choi Soon-sil
to coerce businesses into paying a $72 million deposit for them to start
two foundations. We note
her that Choi controlled both organizations created with funds acquired from
corrupt practices according to the courts. The former president and her friend
were also found guilty of taking bribes from some of those companies from which
they had illegally received funding for their foundations.
We remember that
following early 2017 protests and riots in the country, Park was removed from
power and remanded in custody ever since. Following today’s court decision, a mammoth
crowd of the former president’s supporters appeared on the streets of Seoul to
demand for her immediate release.
Such stories about
bringing to book the leaders of South Korea tells of a country in which there
is true practical democracy. In fact, it is clear that such a country has a no
tolerant policy against corruption and no one is above the law. I guess most of
us would be wishing that such a practice and respect of state institutions and
laws were/are the case in our various countries across Africa.
ALL ABOUT THE
VIBES
No comments:
Post a Comment