The state of Arkansas received heavy criticism and sparked new debates over the death penalty after they rushed to carry out an unprecedented series of 8 executions in 11 days during the month of April as its supply of the sedative midazolam was set to expire at the end of the month. All eight men were convicted of murders that occurred between 1989 and 1999 with some of the crimes described as particularly heinous. The eight men scheduled for execution were Kenneth Williams, Bruce Ward, Stacey Johnson, Don Williamson Davis, Ledell Lee, Jack Harold Jones, Jason McGehee and Marcel Williams.
Governor Hutchinson signed proclamations setting four execution dates for the eight inmates between April 17 and 27. Two men would be put to death on each of the four dates. In a statement he said that it was necessary to schedule the executions close together because of doubts about the future availability of one of three drugs the state uses in its lethal-injection procedure.
Arkansas uses a cocktail of three drugs in its lethal injection formula: Midazolam is used to sedate the prisoner, vecuronium bromide paralyzes prisoners and stops their breathing, and potassium chloride stops the heart. Midazolam is the most controversial of the three since it has repeatedly failed to make prisoners unconscious in other executions, leading to painful deaths. It is not approved by the FDA to be used as an anesthetic on its own, but doctors do use it combined with other drugs before surgical procedures. That is not the case in prisons.
The hurried schedule hit roadblocks from the moment it was announced as attorneys for the eight men attempted to block the executions- including using the argument that midazolam does not effectively prevent a painful death. Separate rulings stayed the executions of two of the prisoners, Don Davis and Bruce Ward. Arkansas appealed the decision in Davis’ case, but the US Supreme Court upheld it. Then Federal Judge Kristine Baker put a stop to all eight executions on April 15, a decision that the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed two days later. By the end of April, four of the men received stays for various reasons.
Despite the drug shortage and the controversy over its use- lethal injection remains the country’s primary method of execution. The drug shortage has spurred some states to begin adapting new and untested combinations of drugs while other states look at other methods of executions. Utah, Tennessee and Oklahoma added or broadened their abilities to use a firing squad, electric chair or nitrogen gas.
With the month over and the expiration date passing-the freshly stirred dust on the death penalty debate has not settled. Capital punishment has long been a divisive issue in the United States with support of it declining to a 40 year low. According to a 2016 Pew Research Center poll, Americans remain split, with 49 percent in favor and 42 percent against it (9% were undecided).
Nationwide, the number of executions has faced a decline as well. Since 2007, seven states have abolished the death penalty and the governors of four others have issued moratoria on the practice. Arkansas is currently one of 31 states with courts that still issue death sentences.
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In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, May 7th, 2017 was:
DEBORAH FARRIS
Dallas, TX
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans of either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift. Card
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook “fan” on either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
5/01/17
Brittany Marie Thompson
Brandy Marie Williams
Nai Merri
Isis Sample
Jennifer Kinner
Anna Nichols
Dale Fish
Crystal Young
Kendra George
Judy Custer
Jennifer Sparks
Jenifer Garza
Michelle Cervantes
Heather Lynn Rood
Misty Shallcross
Deborah Farris
Paula Rousseau
Tonya Velazquez
Stephanie Beckwith
Jamie Nash Lewter
Nelle Bailey
Amy Cantrall-McDaniels
5/2/17
Jennifer Kinner
Crystal Young
Glenna Zanglio
Cheryl Hall
Lisa Puckett
Jodi Stevens
Tee Anderson
Karen Bondehagen
Jennifer Ramlet
Amber Cheras
Kelli Bryson
Stephanie Caldwell
Tonya Velazquez
Jakara Jackson
Kassi Krick-King
Michelle Hughes
Angela N Dustin Turner
Crystal Dougherty Merrill
Brandy Marie Williams
Alicia Dansby
5/3/17
Deborah Farris
Christy Hawkes
Jade Good
Jennifer Mason
Shona Johnson
Alexandria Fields
Derek Jennings
Paula Rousseau
Jennifer Saavedra
Jennifer Downing
Joanie Waterman
Mary Vantil
Jodi Stevens
Destiny Landsaw Davis
Melissa Barnes Walker
Crystal Hazelwood
Megan Rhyne
Tracy Shafer
Wendi Black
Trisha Musgrave
5/4/17
Deborah Farris
Sandra Sue Blanton
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Jennifer Mason
Kimberly Foster
Steve Hardy
Sandy Nevels
Jonnalyn Gates
Sheila Carvell
Kendra George
Adaria Johnson
Beth Mason
Alicia Dansby
Angelique Drummond
Sheila Vives
Brooke Scott
Debbie Jensen
Melinda Lee
Pamela Gonzalez
Kalyani Nam
5/5/17
Christine McKinnon
Andrea Timms
Kimberly Snyder
Cheryl Hall
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Megan Landor
Mary Achio
Megan Rhyne
Kevin James Anderson
Jakara Jackson
Shawna Poole
Christina Domingue
Tera Wardrip
Dean Bruss
Beata Tybor
Sheila Carvell
Valerie Kuehn
Jennifer Alice Duran
Nai Merri
JoBeth Butcher
5/6/17
Jonnalyn Gates
Joanie Waterman
Andrea Timms
Stephanie Beckwith
Valerie Kuehn
Kayte CookWatts
Brooke Scott
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Heather Lynn Rood
Nelle Bailey
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Derek Jennings
Angela N Dustin Turner
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Allyson Becker
Kimberly Snyder
Lauren Bradley
Christina Domingue
Tera Wardrip
Maria Bouchard
5/7/17
Karen Jaras
Cheryl Hall
Stephanie Caldwell
Traci Anderson
Jennifer Ramlet
Rebecca Fauteux
Deborah Farris
Dale Fish
Johanna Landsaw-Davis
Laura Moreland
Angela Hendricks
Leslie Wagner Hobson
Nitasha Shank
Kathleen Hickman
Beth Cleveland
Jennifer Lang
Roberta Thomas
Wendi Black
Sheila Carvell
Beata Tybor
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!! 
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better. You may also find that if you “Like” both of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
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At least 140 Afghan soldiers were killed after Taliban militants disguised as soldiers, drove onto a military base and opened fire on soldiers leaving Friday prayers. Around 130 of the victims were young recruits who had just graduated from military school. A national day of mourning followed as the calculated Taliban attack was the deadliest on an Afghan military base in the last 16 years.
Camp Shaheen, in northern Afghanistan, was considered one of the nation’s most secure bases in the now relatively peaceful city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Though the April 21st death toll was high, it could have been much higher. It began when two pickup trucks with at least eight Taliban fighters disguised as ANA soldiers passed through multiple checkpoints undetected with fake military identification cards used to obtain access.
An intelligence officer who survived the attack said the attackers were clean-shaven and had what they claimed to be a bloody and bandaged, wounded soldier in the backseat. The “soldier” acted like he was in pain and the disguised attackers claimed it was a medical emergency, insisting that they needed to be let into the base immediately to save the soldier.
As the trucks made it to the final checkpoint which was manned by three guards and no barricade-the guards radioed headquarters to find out if the army hospital was expecting the urgent case. The guards were instructed to let them through but to inform them that they must leave their cache of weapons at the gate. The insurgents refused to leave their weapons and a fierce fire fight with the guards ensued. The Taliban attackers shot all three guards, killing two while the third remains in a critical condition.
After the altercation at the last checkpoint, the attackers made their way into the mosque just as prayers had ended and people were making their way outside. Armed with a machine gun installed on the roof of one of their trucks, the attackers sprayed bullets into the crowd.
As explosions went off, terrified recruits began running for safety. Nearby, an attacker in disguise was calmly directing terrified recruits “to safety” by ushering them inside the dining hall. Trusting the familiar uniform, many young recruits poured in, minutes later, he blew himself up — killing more than 20.
Many recruits ran back into the mosque for safety but the attackers followed them in, mercilessly killing them. A survivor inside the mosque said that as he “played dead” among bodies of fallen recruits he heard a voice call out that “it was over” and “survivors stand up.” Slowly, several survivors rose only to be shot dead.
As deadly as this calculated was, if it wasn’t for the altercation at the final checkpoint, it is likely the casualties would have been far higher. It is believed that the intention of the attackers was to breach the mosque and open fire during final prayers — where 1,500 unarmed personnel would have been easy prey in one enclosed space.
Following the ongoing investigation and amid speculation of inside assistance in the attack, 8 ANA personnel have been arrested while more remain under investigation. Afghanistan’s defense minister and Army chief have also resigned.
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Relations between North Korea and the US and South Korea have rapidly deteriorated in recent months, as the rhetoric and military posturing on both sides has increased. North Korea has threatened to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier that is conducting military drills, along with Japanese ships, in the waters off the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. Aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain and guided-missile destroyers USS Michael Murphy and USS Wayne E Meyer have practiced for war with North Korea with a series of military drills. US allies South Korea and Japan surrounded North Korea with joint exercises on both sides of the Korean peninsula. The navy fleet is now within “striking range” of North Korea, in the Philippine Sea- just east of the Japanese island of Okinawa.
North Korea conducted its own military drills which involved 300 large-caliber self-propelled guns lined up along the coast where they opened fire with live rounds. A statement from the South Korean military said the live-fire exercises were in the Wonsan region in the east of the country. North Korea fired four ballistic missiles toward Japan as part of its exercise targeting US bases there.
Soon after those drills were conducted, the US began to deploy its advanced THAAD anti-missile defense system in South Korea, despite opposition from Russia and China. The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system came THAAD is a missile defense system designed to intercept short and medium-range ballistic missiles as they begin their descent to their targets. Developed by Lockheed Martin, THAAD missiles use infrared seeker technology to locate their targets and detonate on impact.
Both Russia and China have spoken out against the THAAD deployment. China’s Foreign Ministry stated that it was “resolutely opposed” to the move and say the missile system actually aims to counter China’s military power in the region, not to contain North Korea. The deployment also drew protests from hundreds of villagers in Seongju, South Korea, who clashed with police as troops began deploying THAAD hardware on a local golf course.
The Trump administration called the entire US Senate to a meeting at the White House, for a briefing on North Korea with the US secretaries of Defense and State. President Trump recently stated “North Korea is a big world problem, and it’s a problem we have to finally solve. People put blindfolds on for decades and now it’s time to solve the problem.” Many fear that Trump is backing himself into a corner with his firm stance on North Korea, leading both countries to a point where “bad things are going to happen.”
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On April 19th, disgraced NFL player Aaron Hernandez killed himself in his prison cell, officials said. Hernandez, 27, was found hanging in his cell by corrections officers around 3:05 a.m. and pronounced dead an hour later at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center. Hernandez was in a single cell in a general population housing unit and hanged himself with a bed sheet attached to his cell window. Officials said Hernandez had given no indication he might try to take his own life and that he had tried blocking his door from the inside with various items.
Just days before, on April 14th, Hernandez was found not guilty in the 2012 double murders of Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu and Safiro Teixeira Furtado. Hernandez was already convicted of first-degree murder in the death of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd in 2015 and was serving a sentence of life in prison without a possibility of parole.
Hernandez played three seasons with the New England Patriots and in 2012 he signed a $40 million five year contract extension that included a $12.5 million signing bonus. The Patriots released Hernandez from the team about 90 minutes after his June 2013 arrest in the murder of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez’s lawyers say they are skeptical of his death being a suicide while many speculate that his suicide was in part-financially motivated.
Hernandez’s arrest and termination led to enormous financial troubles as CytoSport and Puma canceled their endorsement deals and his release from the team automatically forfeited his 2015–18 salaries, totaling $19.3 million. The Patriots voided all remaining guarantees, including his 2013 and 2014 salaries, on the grounds that those guarantees were for skill, injury, or salary cap room, and did not include being cut for “conduct detrimental to the best interests of professional football.” The Patriots also planned to withhold $3.25 million of Hernandez’s 2012 signing bonus that was due to be paid in 2014 and to recoup the portion of the signing bonus already paid in an effort to recover some of the millions they lost when cutting him from the team.
Under Massachusetts law, it is possible for Hernandez lawyers to request to have his murder conviction vacated due to his death due to the legal principle of abatement ab initio. The principle asserts that when a defendant dies but has not exhausted all legal appeals, the case reverts to its status “at the beginning”; technically, the conviction is vacated and the defendant is rendered “innocent”.
At the time of his death, Hernandez was in the process of filing an appeal for his 2015 first degree murder conviction. On April 25, 2017, lawyers for Hernandez filed a motion at Massachusetts Superior Court in Fall River to vacate his murder conviction. State prosecutors reserve the right to object to Hernandez’s request. The family of Odin Lloyd may also petition the court not to vacate the conviction and to keep the appeal alive.
If the request is granted, a number of things can benefit Hernandez’s family and estate. First, he would not have been in violation of his Patriots contract. That may mean that the Patriots would have to pay the remaining $15 million of his contract to his estate. If his murder conviction is vacated, it would also protect his estate from any civil suits from Odin Lloyd’s family because they would not be able to use evidence from the criminal trial in a lawsuit against the Hernandez estate for civil damages.
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United Airlines is facing backlash after a videos went viral of a doctor who was assaulted before being forcibly dragged off the plane, after he refused to give up his paid seat. The backlash against United sparked boycotts and dropped hundreds of millions of dollars from the company’s stock price.
Dr. David Dao was left bleeding and disoriented, after being forcefully pulled across the seat dividers and dragged down the aisle of the plane as shocked passengers looked on with several expressing disbelief on the incident as it was happening.
Dao, 69, of Elizabethtown, Ky., was one of four passengers picked to be bumped from an April 9 flight from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to Louisville, Ky., to make room for airline employees who were added to the flight shortly before it departed.
According to another passenger on Flight 3411 from Chicago to Kentucky, the airline needed seats on the fully booked aircraft to reposition four crew members for another flight. The crew announced that the plane could not take off until four passengers voluntarily deplaned. When it didn’t have enough volunteers, even after offering $800 and a next day flight, the airline selected the man and several other passengers to deplane.
When he refused to leave, saying he had to see patients at a hospital in Kentucky early the following morning, multiple Chicago Department of Aviation security officers dragged Dao through the aisle, bloodying him. Dao then tried to run back on the flight and was forcibly removed a second time.
United CEO Oscar Muñoz initially defended the company’s actions but later apologized, calling the incident “horrific.” United Airlines said it will fully refund the tickets of all passengers on board the flight. Chicago’s Aviation Department has said that four officers involved in the beating had been placed on leave.
Dao, who was hospitalized in Chicago, suffered a concussion, a broken nose and lost two teeth in the ordeal. In preparation for a civil suit, lawyers for Dr. Dao filed an emergency request requiring United and the city to preserve records of the incident and the personnel files of the Aviation Department officers who pulled Dao from the plane.
The airline has said it is reviewing its policies regarding oversold flights. They already announced that they will require United employees traveling for work to book seats at least an hour in advance to avoid displacing customers already on board an aircraft.
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In an escalating dispute over the death penalty cases in Florida, Governor Rick Scott has removed Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala from 21 more cases from District 9 to a special prosecutor. The governor’s spokeswoman said in a statement “State Attorney Ayala’s complete refusal to consider capital punishment for the entirety of her term sends an unacceptable message that she is not interested in considering every available option in the fight for justice,” Ayala’s office, in response, is saying Scott blindsided her and is calling the decision an abuse of power.
All of the cases removed from Ayala have been reassigned to State Attorney Brad King. Ayala has filed a motion in state circuit court indicating her intent to challenge Scott’s decision and disputing the governor’s authority to remove her simply because he disagrees with her valid exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
Ayala, an elected prosecutor in central Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, took office in January, to begin a four-year term. In March, Ayala announced she would no longer seek the death penalty in any murder cases, including in the case of Markeith Loyd, who’s accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend and then Orlando police officer Debra Clayton. Scott removed Ayala from that case shortly after.
Her decision sparked an outcry with many Republican leaders claiming Ayala violated her oath of office by taking the death penalty off the table. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi called Ayala’s move “a blatant neglect of duty and a shameful failure to follow the law,” while members of the state legislature threatened to reduce her office’s funding.
There were also some who backed Ayala’s decision including more than 100 judges, former prosecutors and legal experts who have expressed their support for Ayala, saying Scott has overstepped his legal authority by removing her from cases, and saying she has the legal discretion to not seek the death penalty.
Capital punishment remains legal in 31 states, but death penalty sentences have dropped dramatically over the past few decades. Of the nation’s 2,300 prosecutors, only 27 sentenced a person to death last year. Capital punishment in Florida has been on hold since Jan. 12 when the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the state’s sentencing system as a violation of a defendant’s right to a jury trial. Florida’s old law allowed a jury to recommend the death penalty by a simple majority vote. Every other state with the death penalty except for Delaware requires juries to be unanimous in recommending a sentence of death.
In March, Governor Scott attempted to restart executions last month by signing a bill which took effect immediately-that requires jury recommendations to be unanimous before a death penalty can be imposed by a judge. After signing the legislature, Scott said he hopes that executions could soon resume in Florida. “My foremost concern is always for the victims and their loved ones,” Scott’s statement said. “I hope this legislation will allow families of these horrific crimes to get the closure they deserve.”
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U.S. District Court Judge David Hale in Louisville, Kentucky, has ruled that a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of inciting violence against protesters at a presidential campaign rally last year can move forward, denying a free speech argument against the suit.
The ruling opens the way for the lawsuit brought by three protesters to proceed through the legal system. The suit is against Trump, his campaign and three of his supporters. Trump’s lawyers had argued a free speech defense against the lawsuit, arguing that Trump did not intend for his supporters to use force.
Kentucky federal Judge David Hale said he found ample facts supporting the allegations that the protesters’ injuries were a ”direct and proximate result” of Trump’s actions. He wrote that “it is plausible that Trump’s direction to ‘get ‘em out of here’ advocated the use of force. … It was an order, an instruction, a command.” The protesters- two women and a teenage boy, were at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
Plaintiffs Henry Brousseau, Kashiya Nwanguma and Molly Shah say they were assaulted by Trump supporters at the March 2016 rally in Louisville as Trump repeatedly said “Get ‘em out.” The trio are suing Trump and his campaign for incitement to riot, negligence, as well as gross negligence and recklessness. They are seeking unspecified damages.
The attackers named in the lawsuit include Matthew Heimbach, a member of a white supremacist group, and Alvin Bamberger, a member of the Korean War Veterans Association in Ohio. A third defendant has not been identified. In a video of the incident that went viral shortly after it happened, Heimbach and Bamberger are seen pushing Nwanguma down an aisle as Trump repeatedly says “Get ‘em out, Get ‘em out of here!”
Hale said the removal of Nwanguma, an African American woman, was “particularly reckless.” The judge did not remove allegations that Nwanguma was the victim of racial, ethnic and sexist slurs from the rally crowd. He wrote, “While the words themselves are repulsive, they are relevant to show the atmosphere in which the alleged events occurred.”
The judge dismissed part of the suit claiming that Trump and his campaign were “vicariously liable” for assault and battery. Hale said that the men accused of attacking the protesters were not employed by the Trump campaign, nor were they under Trump’s direct control.
Alvin Bamberger, said in a letter cited by the judge: “Trump kept saying, ‘get them out, get them out,’ and people in the crowd began pushing and shoving the protesters. I physically pushed a young woman.”
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At least 86 people have died, including 20 children, and hundreds wounded – in a suspected chemical weapons attack in the northern province of the rebel controlled city of Idlib. The attack has been described as the largest chemical attack in Syria since 2013. The United States, France and Britain have accused the Syrian government of carrying out the attack and have proposed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning it.
U.N. war crimes investigators have said that if the suspected chemical attack is confirmed, that it constitutes a “serious violation of international law.” Russia had initially claimed that the chemical attack was actually gases that were released after an airstrike hit a depot where rebels were making chemical weapons. Later, a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin called the gassing of civilians a “dangerous and monstrous crime” but did not name anyone as the perpetrator.
Syrian journalist Hadi Abdullah, who was a victim of the attack that occurred at dawn on Tuesday, described it in an interview. “We were attacked with four strikes” “When people went to help, they were choked with the poisoned gas.” Abdullah described his symptoms of a massive headache with blaring pain in his eyes, trouble breathing and a persistent runny nose as minor in comparison to others.
He described the horrifying scene in the aftermath of the strike as chaos with crying, people being stripped and washed in the streets and children suffocating and dying in the streets as white liquid frothed from their open mouths. He said many were wandering the streets in search of loved ones-not knowing if they had been taken for medical treatment or were already dead. In one case, he said, an entire family – parents and three children, were found dead in their beds from the initial alleged chemical attack.
According to Syrian Dr. Khaled Al Milaji- the initial medical summaries following the attack indicated that the substance used was “more than just chlorine,” and that they strongly suspect “sarin or worse” was also utilized. Sarin is next to impossible to detect, due to its clear, tasteless and non-odorous nature. Atropine – a medication used intravenously to treat certain types of nerve agent exposure – was distributed as widely as possible, but the best chance one had of survival was being relocated to safer area in the northern part of the region.
Just days before the chemical attack, the Trump administration said it would no longer seek the ouster of Bashar al-Assad but afterwards, President Trump said that it had altered his position on Syria and its leader Bashar al-Assad. A mere 63 hours after the chemical attack, understandably shaken by photos of infants and children dying- President Trump gave the order to unleash 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Al Shayrat airfield- where attack was launched from.
The intent of the US strike was to “send a message” to the Assad regime. Russia’s Foreign Ministry quickly condemned the U.S. assault, saying it threatened international security. Russia-the Syrian regime’s main ally, has pledged to help strengthen Syria’s air defenses and suspend its “deconfliction agreement,” which prevents Russian and U.S. planes from coming into conflict over Syria.
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Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was arrested on charges related to the bribery scandal that led to her impeachment. Park faces 13 charges in total, including bribery, abuse of power and the leaking of state secrets. She has not been formally indicted yet but prosecutors can detain her for up to 20 days before formally charging her.
Park was removed from office March 10th, stripping her of presidential immunity after South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld a decision to impeach her for alleged corruption.
The scandal has dominated the headlines in South Korea since late last year and sparked mass protests, many calling for her impeachment. The controversy centered around Park’s friend and close adviser, Choi Soon-sil, who is alleged to have had significant and inappropriate influence over the former president. Choi is on trial for abuse of power and fraud.
Among other accusations, Park is accused of helping extort some $38 million from Samsung and a total of $70 million from South Korean companies for the private slush fund of her friend and confidant Choi Soon-sil. Park is also accused to leaking state secrets to Choi. Lee Jae-yong, the former head of Samsung is also being held in connection to the same corruption scandal. Lee is accused of approving the millions in bribes to Choi.
The former president continued to deny all wrongdoing during a 14-hour interrogation last week, leading prosecutors to ask for a warrant for her arrest. They said they were concerned Park would destroy evidence if she remained at large. The 65-year-old former president was taken to a detention center outside Seoul, the same detention center where Choi Soon-Sil and Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of Samsung are both being held. If convicted, Park could face up to 10 years in prison.
Park becomes the third former president in South Korean history to face the possibility of a prison sentence. Two other former leaders, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, were charged with improperly collecting millions from businesses while in office. Both were later pardoned after short jail stints.
Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office released a statement regarding the arrest. “The suspect abused the mighty power and position as President to take bribes from companies and infringed upon the freedom of corporate management and leaked important confidential official information.”
Park Geun-hye was the nation’s first female president and the daughter of the former president Park Chung-hee. Park’s mother was killed in 1974 in an assassination attempt that targeted her husband. Park was regarded as First Lady after her mother’s death. Park’s father, Chung-hee, was gunned down by his own intelligence chief in 1979. After her father’s killing, Park Geun-hye left the presidential Blue House and secluded herself from the public eye. She entered politics in the late 1990s — when public nostalgia for her father emerged after the country’s economy was hit hard by the Asian financial crisis.
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