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court has pleaded not guilty to the Coast Guard Command, accused of failing to properly perform rescue duties during the Sewol ferry disaster.
The family members of the Sewol ferry protested that they could not accept the verdict, and the prosecution said they would appeal.
This is Jung Yoon-sik.
<Reporter> The
22nd Division of the Criminal Agreement of the Seoul Central District Court was acquitted in a first-trial trial against 11 members of the maritime police commander, including former Maritime Police Commissioner Kim Seok-gyun, who was indicted for failing to properly rescue during the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014.
This is the result of one year after being prosecuted by the Special Investigation Group for the Sewol ferry disaster in February last year, saying that the initial measures of the coastal police command were insufficient at the time of the Sewol ferry disaster.
The Special Investigation Team handed over to trial, claiming that Kim and others had violated the duty to save lives because they did not immediately induce a departure or enter the hull immediately after the accident.
However, the judge said that communication between the helicopters arriving at the site and the situation rooms at each level was not smooth, and it was difficult to predict that the Sewol would sink rapidly in 10 minutes due to a defect in the hull, and that the accused was acknowledged to be negligent in business related to the specific rescue mission. I decided it was difficult to see.
Former Mokpo Maritime Police Chief Kim Moon-hong and former Captain Lee Jae-doo 3009, respectively, who made false reports by falsifying the report even though they did not order to induce the evacuation, respectively, were suspended for three years in prison in June and 1 year in prison, and suspended in prison in June. Sentenced to two years.
The Special Investigation Group, which prosecuted them, said it would appeal, saying it could not accept the sentence.
The families of the Sewol ferry, who watched the results of the sentence in court, strongly opposed the judgment, saying it was unacceptable.