Prosecutors want death for ex-president Chun

Prosecutors want death for ex-president Chun

SEOUL (Reuter): South Korean prosecutors asked a Seoul
criminal court yesterday to sentence former president Chun Doo
Hwan to death on charges of sedition, treason and bribery.

Senior prosecutor Kim Sang-hee said Chun, accused of
masterminding a 1979 coup and a 1980 army massacre in the
southern city of Kwangju, should be given the maximum penalty.

He also asked the court to sentence Chun's successor Roh Tae-
woo, who faces the same charges, to life in prison.

Roh is accused of playing a leading role in the coup and the
massacre, which left 200 dead by official count when troops fired
on pro-democracy demonstrators protesting against the imposition
of full martial law in South Korea in May 1980.

Both men have also been charged with amassing millions of
dollars in slush funds during their presidential terms. Chun
ruled South Korea from 1980-88 and Roh from 1988-93.

The prosecutor told the court that Chun and Roh, both retired
four-star generals, must be severely punished so that "this trial
will serve as a historic landmark by showing that laws and
justice rule this land".

He also sought fines of 283.9 billion won ($349 million) for
Roh and 222.3 billion won ($273 million) for Chun for bribes they
took from businessmen during their presidency.

The three-judge panel will sentence them on Aug. 19.

The prosecution also asked for prison terms of between 10
years and life for 14 former senior military officers for their
roles in the coup and the massacre, one of the most traumatic
events in the nation's modern history.

"It is the duty of our generation to settle the legacies of a
wrongful past," prosecutor Kim said.

Chun and Roh have been on trial since last December as part of
President Kim Young-sam's campaign to "put history to rights".

The public gallery burst into thunderous applauds when the
prosecution demanded death sentence for Chun. The ex-presidents
were often taunted with cries of "sons of bitches", "kill the
bastard" and "execute the slaughterers".