[Yonhap Photo]
Prosecutors demanded a 25-year jail term for the crony of South Kora's jailed ex-president Park Geun-hye, accusing her of causing a state crisis by abusing power and controlling government affairs arbitrarily for her personal interests.
At a final hearing on Thursday, prosecutors also urged the criminal court in Seoul to impose a fine of 118.5 billion won (108.4 million US dollars) and forfeit 7.7 billion won from Choi Soon-sil, who was arrested in November last year. The verdict will come on January 26.
Choi, 61, has been indicted on charges of meddling in state affairs, siphoning off money from two public foundations created with cash donations from dozens of conglomerates.
She has been at the center of a corruption scandal that sparked massive candle-lit protest and led to the impeachment of Park, who is also on trial on charges of abusing power and conspiring with Choi to extort money from Samsung and other top conglomerates in return for business favors.
"I've never sought my personal interests," Choi said in her final testimony, appealing for mercy in a tearful voice to Park and other defendants. "I've watched Park for 40 years, and she is not a person who conspires with any company and with me."
Choi was given a three-year prison sentence in June in the first case involving her daughter accused of receiving undue favors regarding her school admission and academic affairs.
At Thursday's hearing, prosecutors blasted Choi for using her friendship with Park to "disturb the order of government organizations and private companies". "She conspired with the president... to seriously undermine the constitutional values and shake the national discipline."
"The true nature of this case is the clandestine and unethical collusion between political and capital powers," the prosecution said.
Prosecutors requested a six-year prison sentence and a fine of 100 million won for An Chong-bum, one of Park's senior aides, for collaborating with Choi to collect corporate donations, and a four-year jail term for Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin for bribing her.
"Choi should be punished severely for putting the people in distress after being blinded by the reckless accumulation of wealth," the prosecution said. Lawyer Lee Kyung-jae argued Choi was never involved in illegal fund-raising, defending her as the victim of a distorted political campaign to oust Park.
The hearing came to a brief halt as Choi was apparently agitated by strong accusations from prosecutors and screamed while taking a break at the defendant's waiting room. She was allowed to relax in a wheelchair outside the court.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
