The trial on South Korea’s ex-president lasted more than 10 months, BBC reported. On Friday, it has ended with Park Geun-hye being found guilty of corruption. She was incriminated multiple criminal charges, including bribery and abuse of power, next 24 years Park spends in jail.
The 66-year-old Park Geun-hye did not appear in court for the verdict in the trial on Friday. The investigation began last May but was delayed through the autumn as ex-leader refused to co-operate or attend the proceedings.
“The defendant showed no signs of self-reflection. She abused the power given to her by citizens,”
said Kim Se-yoon, the trial judge, who also slapped Ms Park with a fine of almost $17m, while presidential residence, the Blue House, issued a statement after the verdict calling it a “heartbreaking event for the nation”.
For South Korea, Park’s case is unique, the country never faced such scaled corruption and bribery, an unprecedented wide-ranging corruption scandal exposed shady links between big business and politics in South Korea, prompting massive street protests against Park last year. Lee Myung-bak, Park’ predecessor, is currently in jail awaiting trial on allegations that he received bribes worth $10m from some of the nation’s biggest institutions, including Samsung Electronics and the National Intelligence Service.
But on Friday the ruling was greeted with dismay in streets outside the courtroom by several hundred flag-waving ex-president supporters. Many protesters sat on the pavement in tears while others began a protest march. Protesters believe that the South Korean rule of law is dead today.
South Korea’s the first female president didn’t deliver her promises, that is the most bitter thing for many her supporters. But ьuch of the public anger was focused on Park’s relationship with Choi and accusations that she let her childhood friend — who held no formal position or security clearance — meddle in state affairs, including high-level appointments and editing official speeches.
