South Korea court upholds 20-year jail term for ex-leader

South Korea court upholds 20-year jail term for ex-leader
# 14 January 2021 11:00 (UTC +04:00)

South Korea's Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year jail term for former President Park Geun-hye who was found guilty of abuse of power and coercion, APA reports citing BBC.

The ruling on Thursday upheld a reduced jail term given to Park in July on appeal after she was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors had tried to appeal against that reduction.

Park, South Korea's first female president, was toppled from power in 2017 over a vast corruption scandal.

The court on Thursday also upheld her fine of 18bn won (£12m, $17m).

The former president was her country's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office in a fallout that also landed two conglomerate heads in prison.

Park, 68, was initially sentenced to a total of 30 years in jail and fined 20bn won, but a high court later reduced the fine and the term - to 15 years for corruption with another five for abuse of power.

Thursday's ruling by the country's top court is the final verdict in the case.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED