Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was indicted by prosecutors Monday on multiple corruption charges, while Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was prosecuted for bribery charge.
Prosecutors will indict ousted President Park Geun-hye on Monday on bribery and other charges related to 13 criminal allegations, and conclude their probe into the influence-peddling scandal that brought her down, prosecution sources said.
She'd already been removed from office after a Constitutional Court ruling on March 10 confirmed her impeachment.
She will have to face judges in prison garb and bound with rope, and the bribery charge could mean life imprisonment.
SK chairman Chey Tae-won narrowly escapes prosecution because his conglomerate refused to submit to demands for extra cash after a hefty initial donation to Choi's dubious Mir and K-Sports foundations.
Park is also charged with abusing her authority to help Choi's business interests, exclude artists critical of Park from state budget and sack government officials uncooperative with her wrongdoings.
Prosecutors are allowed to detain Park until next Wednesday without indicting her.
Schoolboy in Malaysia whose legs were amputated in alleged abuse case dies
Since April 19, doctors had struggled to save Mohamad Thaqif's affected legs after he contracted a bacterial infection. The assistant warden allegedly used hose to beat their legs, and Thaqif was said to be beaten more than the others.
The indictment, a widely expected follow-up to Park's arrest, will prompt the Seoul Central District Court to open a trial.
As well as claims she and her friend Choi Soon-sil coerced conglomerates into donating 77.4 billion won ($68 million) to two nonprofit foundations, Park is also accused of soliciting bribes from the Lotte and SK groups.
Park is the daughter of late dictator Park Chung-hee, one of the most divisive figures in South Korean history.
She is the first leader of South Korea to be forced from office in response to popular pressure since the founding president, Syngman Rhee, fled into exile in Hawaii in 1960. Woo Byung-woo, who was Park's key aide in civil affairs while the alleged corruption took place, was also sent for a criminal trial for abuse of power. Choi and Samsung's top executive, Lee Jae-yong, were also under arrest and on trial.
Though unpopular among many South Koreans, she still has supporters, and some conservative politicians and media outlets are already demanding her pardon in tghe event of a conviction.
Park will reportedly remain in jail and will be escorted to Seoul, South Korea once the trial for the scandal begins.
Comments