Family members of the victims, most of whom were teenagers, immediately criticized the sentence for Capt. Lee Joon-seok and other crew members as too lenient, some weeping and shouting during the court proceedings. "Do you know how many children are dead?" As our loved ones remain trapped in the cold waters, this decision is unbearably painful for us. one relative said, according to a defence lawyer.
The Gwangju District Court in southern South Korea acquitted Lee of a homicide charge because it was difficult to believe that he knew his actions would cause such a huge number of deaths, according to a court statement. It said that Lee had issued an evacuation order.
The widely vilified Lee could have received a death sentence for the homicide charge. South Korea hasn't executed anyone since late 1997, though its courts occasionally issue the punishment. Lee has apologized for abandoning the passengers, but said he didn't know his actions would lead to so many deaths.
The court sentenced the ship's chief engineer to 30 years in prison and 13 others to up to 20 years in prison, the statement said. The engineer, Park Ki-ho, was convicted of the homicide charge because he abandoned two injured colleagues, escaped the ferry and failed to tell rescuers about them, even though he knew they would die without help, the court statement said.
The court, however, cleared two other crew members of homicide charges for the same reasoning used to acquit the captain of homicide, the statement said. Those crew members got 15 and 20 years in prison, it said. Prosecutors and the crew members have one week to appeal, according to the court.
Source: CNN / AITonline
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