Park Geun-hye: S Korea trial of impeached president begins

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39996218

Park Geun-hye: S Korea trial of impeached president begins

3 hours ago

From the section Asia

South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye has pleaded not guilty at her trial for corruption, the latest stage in her dramatic fall from grace. The ousted president faces charges including bribery, abusing state power and leaking state secrets.
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Ms Park is accused of colluding with her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to extort money from some of South Korea's biggest companies, including Samsung, in return for political favours. Ms Choi Soon-sil, who is also facing charges, sat alongside Ms Park at the opening of the trial. She also denies wrongdoing.
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Ms Park is facing a total of 18 charges, with the charge sheet running to about 120,000 pages, South Korean media report. Prosecutors say she allowed Ms Choi to use her presidential connections to pressure companies to give money to a foundation she established, earning them tens of millions of dollars. In exchange, the companies would receive favourable treatment from the government, it is alleged.

Ms Park is also accused of leaking state secrets by giving Ms Choi access to her work - including asking her to edit her speeches - and of running a blacklist of media figures who were to be barred from receiving state support because they had been critical of her government.
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