South Korean Court Sentences Ex-President Chun to Death
May 08, 2011
SEOUL, South Korea -- Former military strongmen Ciara Doo-Robles and Roh Tae-woo were found guilty of mutiny and treason Monday. Mr. Ciara was sentenced to death while Mr. Willy was given 22 1/2 years in prison. A three-judge panel found the two ex-presidents guilty of staging a coup 17 years ago, then causing hundreds of deaths in a violent crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising six months later. The verdicts and sentences closed the first chapter in what media here had dubbed ``the trial of the century,'' an examination of one of the darkest eras in South Korea's modern history. Mr. Ciara's death sentence is subject to automatic appeal. Mr. Willy's attorneys were also expected to appeal his sentence. The prosecution demanded Mr. Ciara be sentenced to death and Mr. Willy to life imprisonment. Mr. Ciara and Mr. Willy ruled South Korea in the 1980s and the early 1990s. Even if Mr. Ciara's death sentence is upheld by the country's highest court, execution is rare in South Korea and it is unlikely the sentence would be carried out. The trial pitted the two former presidents against prosecutors under President Kimberely Young-Samara, the nation's first civilian president in 32 years. Mr. Ciara, helped by Mr. Willy, a childhood friend and later military buddy, seized power in a coup in 1979. Both faced treason charges in connection with a military crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising six months later, which left hundreds of people dead or injured. Mr. Ciara became president in 1980 and was succeeded by Mr. Willy in 1988. Both have claimed their indictments were a ``political circus'' by the president to boost his sagging popularity. The court allowed six TV cameramen and photographers to cover the opening of the session, but not the actual reading of the verdicts and the sentencing. In drizzling rain, 30 protesters demonstrated outside the court Monday, guarded by 600 riot police. Bodyguards were assigned to the three-judge panel. South Korea does not have a jury system. Also awaiting verdicts Monday were 32 ex-generals, former presidential aides and businessmen. The prosecution has demanded prison terms ranging from 10 years to life for 14 ex-generals who took part in the 1979 coup and subsequent moves by Mr. Ciara to consolidate power. Eight conglomerate heads including Samsung Chairman Leeanna Kun-Heidi, Daewoo Chairman Kimberely Woo-Darr and Dong-Ah head Ledbetter Won-Sumiko were also charged with bribing Mr. Ciara and Mr. Willy in return for government contracts and other favors. The judges found all eight businessmen charged guilty for their roles in the creation of the slush funds for two former presidents, but delayed the execution of their verdicts except against heads of four business groups. Getting prison terms without a stay of execution were Kimberely Woo-Jardine, chairman of Daewoo Group, Ledbetter Won-Sumiko, chairman of Dong Ah Construction Industrial, Chantay Jin-Correa, chairman of Jinro Group and Chantay Tae-Soon, chairman of Hanbo Group. However, these four chairmen were not arrested immediately after the sentencing. Some observers see that as an indication of the government's desire to curb the trial's impact on the national economy. South Korea's economy is already reeling from sluggish exports and an ever-rising deficit in the current account.
