More than two years after being sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption, former South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has been granted a special pardon.
The 81-year-old conservative politician and former mayor of Seoul is the most prominent beneficiary of the decree the government announced on Tuesday for a total of 1,373 convicts. The circle also includes other politicians and former civil servants.
He hopes the decree will serve to “unify national power,” President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a cabinet meeting, according to TV stations. In South Korea, amnesty or mass pardons are often granted at the end of the year or on certain celebrations and anniversaries.
Lee escapes 15 years in prison
According to the Ministry of Justice, the current sentence will take effect on Wednesday. For Lee, this means that he will be released from the remainder of his sentence of approximately 15 years. Unpaid fines of 8.3 billion won (about 6.1 million Swiss francs) will also be withdrawn. Due to health problems and his advanced age, his prison sentence was suspended in June.
Lee was head of state from 2008 to 2013. In February 2020, he was sentenced to a long prison term in second instance. Other charges included abuse of power, embezzlement and tax evasion. He is said to have created slush funds and accepted bribes, among other things.
A year ago, Lee’s successor in the state’s top bureau, Park Geun Hye, was released from prison early – then under social-liberal president Moon Jae In.
Park was embroiled in a major corruption scandal during her tenure. The Constitutional Court removed her from office in 2017. She was later sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption. (saw/sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
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