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South Korean prosecutor asks for death penalty for Sewol ferry captain South Korean prosecutor asks for death penalty for Sewol ferry captain
(about 3 hours later)
GWANGJU, SOUTH KOREA — South Korean prosecutors Monday called for the death penalty for the captain of the Sewol ferry for abandoning ship and leaving hundreds of school students behind as it sank. GWANGJU, South Korea — South Korean prosecutors called Monday for the death penalty for a ferry captain facing murder charges for abandoning his capsized ship and leaving hundreds of school students behind as it sank.
Capital punishment is almost never used in South Korea — no one has been put to death for almost two decades — but the sentencing recommendation underlines the gravity with which the country views the accident. Capital punishment is almost never used in South Korea — no one has been put to death for almost two decades — but the sentencing recommendation underlines the raw wounds that the April 16 tragedy left in this country.
The April 16 capsizing of the Sewol killed 304 people, the vast majority of them students from a single high school. Ten bodies have not been recovered. The capsizing of the Sewol ferry, the result of a dangerously overloaded vessel, killed 304 people, the vast majority of them students from a single high school. Ten bodies have not been recovered.
Lee Joon-seok, the 68-year-old captain of the Sewol, has been charged with “homicide through willful negligence” for abandoning the ferry as it went down in choppy waters off the southern coast of South Korea. Lee Joon-seok, the 68-year-old captain of the Sewol, has been charged with “homicide through willful negligence” for abandoning the ferry as it went down in choppy waters off the southern coast of South Korea en route to the vacation island of Jeju.
Appearing calm as he read a prepared statement in court, Lee said that he didn’t intend for the accident to happen, but that he believed he deserved to die. Prosecutors also asked the judge to hand down life sentences to three crew members for the same charges if found guilty, the Yonhap news agency reported. A range of prison terms is being sought for other crew members charged with abandoning their duties.
Prosecutors said the captain bore responsibility for the disaster, the result of a dangerously overloaded vessel. The court is expected to issue its verdict and sentences for the 15 crew members on Nov. 11.
“The captain, as the man in charge of the Sewol ferry, abandoned his duty that he should not leave the ship until every passenger has left the ship,” a prosecutor said in Gwangju district court Monday. "The accused are guilty of willful negligent murder," the prosecutor said in Gwangju district court Monday. "They put saving their lives before helping the passengers to survive violating their duties."
Prosecutors also asked the judge to hand down life sentences to three crew members for the same charges, Yonhap news agency reported, and a range of punishment for other crew members they said were also guilty of abandoning their duties. Appearing calm as he read a prepared statement in court, Lee said that he didn’t intend for the accident to happen. But he said that he believed he deserved to die.
The court is due to deliver rulings on the 15 crew members charged early next month. Prosecutors said testimonies and evidence showed that the crew members understood the situation clearly.
The body of the ferry company owner, 73-year-old billionaire Yoo Byung-un, was found in a badly decomposed state in July. "The passengers inside the ship could not be saved unless they make their way to the decks," prosecutors told the court. "Passengers were not notified about the condition of the ship tiling and sinking. The coast guards were arriving in a few minutes, but the crew didn't make a slightest effort to let the passengers ready for the escape."
The Sewol disaster remains an active tragedy in South Korea. But it is also dividing the nation. Even after their escape, none of the crew members notified the coast guard of the trapped passengers, the prosecutors said. All the passengers could have been saved within six minutes, they said, based on the simulation they had done.
Bereaved families who were at the court are not satisfied with only one death penalty, with many saying more of the crew deserved "the maximum possible penalty."
But the defense lawyers contended that the ship was a ticking time bomb, doomed to sink because of the way it had been overloaded.
The case has gripped South Korea, partly because of the scale of the tragedy and the youth of its victims, but also because of the bizarre details that emerged about the ferry company's owner.
The 73-year-old billionaire who founded the company, Yoo Byung-un, turned out to be the leader of an extreme religious cult and had enriched himself by squeezing money out of his businesses, including ordering modifications to the Sewol to conceal the fact that it was carrying much more than the allowed weight.
Yoo went on the run after the sinking, and his body was found in a badly decomposed state in July.
The Sewol disaster also has divided the nation.
Scores of representatives of victims’ families have camped out in a plaza in central Seoul, going on hunger strikes and calling for President Park Geun-hye’s administration to establish an independent probe into the ferry sinking. Banners and floral tributes still festoon City Hall.Scores of representatives of victims’ families have camped out in a plaza in central Seoul, going on hunger strikes and calling for President Park Geun-hye’s administration to establish an independent probe into the ferry sinking. Banners and floral tributes still festoon City Hall.
But just across the road, another group of protestors have set up tents and are calling on the victims’ families to end their vigil,saying that the mourning has gone on long enough. But just across the road, another group of protestors have set up tents and are calling on the victims’ families to end their vigil, saying that the mourning has gone on long enough.
Fifield reported from Tokyo.