A South Korean court on Friday sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to 24 years in jail after being found guilty of bribery.
This followed a scandal that exposed webs of corruption between political leaders and the country’s conglomerates.
The court ruled that Park colluded with her old friend, Choi Soon-sil, to receive tens of billions of won from entities such as Samsung and Lotte.
This was to help Choi’s family and fund non-profit foundations owned by her.
Park, 66, had denied wrongdoing and was not present in court during the sentencing.
The prosecutors sought a 30-year sentence and a 118.5 billion won ($112 million) fine for Park, after indicting her on charges that included bribery, abuse of power and coercion.
She was impeached in March 2017 following mass protests.
Park lost her presidential immunity and was dismissed from her post when the constitutional court upheld a decision by parliament to impeach her.
Park is the third South Korean leader to be put on trial for corruption but the first democratically elected one.
The two previous cases involved former military dictators imprisoned on corruption in the 1990s.
The judge said Park had shown “no sign of repentance” but had instead tried to sift the blame to Choi and her secretaries.
“We cannot help but sternly hold her accountable,” Kim said.
Friday’s sentence dealt a bitter blow for Park, who returned to the presidential palace in 2012 as the country’s first woman leader, more than three decades after she left it following the assassination of her father.
Her ouster from office last year led to a presidential election won by the liberal Moon Jae-in, whose conciliatory stand on North Korea has underpinned a significant warming of ties between the rival neighbours.
Moon’s office said Park‘s fate was “heartbreaking” not only for herself but the nation.
More than 200 supporters gathered outside the court, holding national flags and signs calling for an end to “political revenge” against Park.
