Prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a 30-year prison sentence for ousted South Korean President Park Geun-Hye in a corruption scandal, Yonhap news agency reported. Park was removed from office in March 2017 after a ruling by the country’s Constitutional Court.
In April 2017, South Korean prosecutors formally charged Park and Shin Dong-bin, the chief of one of the country’s biggest conglomerates, Lotte, with bribery. The charges against the former president include bribery, coercion, abuse of power and leaking state secrets.
The 66-year-old Geun-hye was accused of colluding with her long-time friend and confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort money in the form of donations from South Korean companies. The money, which was transferred to non-profit foundations controlled by Soon-sil, was allegedly used for personal gains.
Park did not attend the trial on Tuesday at the Seoul Central District Court. She has refused to show up at the hearings after the court extended her detention in October 2017, accusing the judiciary of bias.
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