South Korean prosecutors seek death penalty in ferry trial

[Blue_Tires]

Source: CBS News

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean prosecutors demanded the death penalty Monday for the captain of a ferry that sank in April, killing more than 300 people, and life sentences for three key crew members, news reports said.

Prosecutors also requested that a district court sentence 11 other crew members to up to 30 years in prison on charges that they were negligent and failed to protect passengers when the ferry was sinking April 16, South Korean media reported.

Capt. Lee Joon-seok and three other crew members from the ferry Sewol were indicted on homicide charges, alleging they were negligent and failed to protect passengers when the ferry sank. Eleven other crew members were indicted on less serious charges. The 15 crew members on trial were among the first group of people to leave when the ship began badly listing.

The sinking, one of South Korea's deadliest disasters in decades, caused nationwide grief and fury, with authorities blaming overloading of cargo, improper storage, untimely rescue efforts and other negligence for the incident.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/death-penalty-sought-for-south-korean-ferry-captain-reports/

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Seriously? I'm fine with prison, but these folks are talking about the DEATH PENALTY for what was a snowballing litany of systematic and institutional negligence/incompetence/failure??

There are probably no fewer than 50 people in the "accident chain" who also should get the death penalty in that case (assuming the Koreans want to be consistent and punish everyone involved)...

[Blue_Tires]

1. ttt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. The death penalty for manslaughter? Holy hell.

You guys are supposed to be the sane Koreans, remember?

[Ash_F]

3. South Korea was a very harsh right wing country for many decades

There have been several revolutions( all of which our lovely government tried to block) that have slowly moved them to the center.

But the old ways are still somewhat there.

[Blue_Tires]

4. Well, they are definitely in "Somebody has to PAY!" mindset

I saw in another story months ago that the fact that so many victims were young teens has added to the national rage, since in Korea the cultural norm is for parents to put all of their time, labor, and energy into their children's success, IIRC...