KOREA'S CHUN GETS SENTENCE REDUCED TO LIFE.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. An appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. overturned the death sentence of former military strongman Chun Doo-hwan
See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. . Chun, president from 1980 to 1987, had been sentenced to death by the lower court on Aug. 17 for a military coup in 1979. The appellate court also reduced the prison term of another former military leader, Roh Tae-woo
The court said Chun and Roh were guilty of the coup and a military massacre the following year, but it found their contributions to the country mitigated their crimes. The ruling closed a chapter in South Korea's efforts to come to terms with its bloody and militaristic mil·i·ta·rism n. 1. Glorification of the ideals of a professional military class. 2. Predominance of the armed forces in the administration or policy of the state. 3. past. The country was ruled by generals until Kim Young-sam took power in 1992 as the nation's first civilian president in 32 years. Kim has since carried out wide-ranging reforms aimed at eradicating their legacy. The two ex-presidents denied in court that they plotted the coup to seize power or ordered a military crackdown that killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters. Chun and Roh, who have always maintained they acted to save the nation from chaos and a renewed threat of invasion by North Korea, can still appeal to the Supreme Court to vacate To annul, set aside, or render void; to surrender possession or occupancy. The term vacate has two common usages in the law. With respect to real property, to vacate the premises means to give up possession of the property and leave the area totally devoid of contents. their sentences. The Supreme Court, South Korea's highest court, traditionally does not change or modify lower court sentences. It only checks the legal validity of those sentences. The charges of mutiny and treason against Chun carry a mandatory death penalty. But the court, led by senior judge Kwon Sung, said his leadership in developing South Korea's economy in the 1980s was taken into account. Also considered was his voluntary step-down in 1988 for South Korea's first peaceful transfer of power. South Korea's modern history was marred by successive coups. Even if the reduced sentences given Chun and Roh are upheld through the Supreme Court, they could be granted clemency Leniency or mercy. A power given to a public official, such as a governor or the president, to in some way lower or moderate the harshness of punishment imposed upon a prisoner. Clemency is considered to be an act of grace. by the president in a case that has heavy political overtones. The lower court convicted Chun of engineering a Dec. 12, 1979, coup that brought him to power and a 1980 military crackdown in the southern city of Kwangju. His military buddy and presidential successor, Roh, was convicted of helping Chun seize power. Roh ruled until 1992. Chun and Roh also were convicted of taking bribes from businessmen while in office and were fined $270 million and $350 million, respectively. |
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