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Former South Korean president Park Geun-hye has been convicted and sentenced to 24 years in prison, a year after she was driven from office and arrested over a corruption scandal that saw months of massive street rallies calling for her ouster.
- On top of the prison sentence, Park has been fined 18 billion won ($21.9 million)
- Park has one week to launch an appeal
- Supporters of Park rallied in the streets for her release
The conviction, which she can appeal, is the latest hit in a dramatic fall for South Korea's first female president.
Park maintains she's a victim of "political revenge" and has been refusing to attend court sessions since October.
She didn't attend the verdict, citing a sickness that wasn't specified publicly.
In a nationally televised verdict, the Seoul Central District Court convicted Park of bribery, extortion, abuse of power and other charges.
"It's inevitable that the defendant should be held strictly responsible for her crimes, if only to prevent the unfortunate event of (a president) abusing the power given by the people and causing chaos in state affairs," Chief Judge Kim Se-yun said.
Along with the prison sentence, Park was also fined 18 billion won ($21.9 million), judge Kim said.
Both Park and the prosecutors have one week to appeal.
The Seoul court convicted Park of colluding with longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to pressure 18 business groups to donate a total of 77.4 billion won ($94.4 million) for the launch of two foundations controlled by Choi.
The scandal has already led to the arrests, indictments and convictions of dozens of high-profile government officials and business leaders.
Choi is serving a 20-year prison term and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong was initially sentenced to five years in prison before his sentence was suspended on appeal.
Hundreds of Park's conservative supporters — mostly middle aged and elderly — gathered near the court hours before the ruling, swinging South Korean and US flags under signs and banners that read, among other things, "immediately release innocent president Park Geun-hye" and "stop murderous political revenge".
The protests show how deeply South Koreans are split along ideological and generational lines, the result of decades-long tension with rival North Korea and the lingering fallout from the conservative military dictatorships that ran the country until the late 1980s.
AP
Topics: corruption, world-politics, korea-republic-of, asia