Trial opens for Sewol crew
June 10, 2014
Angry and grieving relatives packed the courtroom in Gwangju on Tuesday for the start of the trial as the 15 defendants were brought in.
Captain Lee Joon-Seok and three crew members are accused of "homicide through willful negligence." The charge falls between first-degree murder and manslaughter, but still carries the death penalty, though it is unlikely to be carried out. Prosecutors accuse them of tacitly colluding to abandon the sinking ship while aware that passengers would be trapped and killed.
Eleven other crew members face lesser charges of criminal negligence and violating maritime law.
The Sewol was carrying 476 passengers when it sank off the southwest coast of South Korea on April 16. So far 292 people have been confirmed dead in the incident. Twelve more are unaccounted for, with divers continuing to search the wreckage.
Most of the victims were students on a high school trip who stayed in their cabins as they were told during the sinking.
Outrage over national tragedy
The tragedy sparked outrage in the country over the incompetence, corruption and greed that is believed to have contributed to the disaster. The ship's captain and crew have been at the center of the anger, especially after the coastguard released a video showing him scrambling to safety from the sinking ship.
Dozens of parents of the victims, who nearly all came from the same school, traveled the Gwangju District Court on buses to attend the trial, inside and outside the building.
One mourning family member brought a sign that read: "You are not human. You are beneath animals." An altercation ensued between relatives and court security guards who tried to remove the sign.
The crew members have been in detention since their indictment and much of the media coverage has been highlighted by a presumption of their guilt. Weeks after the disaster, President Park Geun-Hye said the crew's actions had been "tantamount to murder."
Tuesday's preliminary hearing was expected to mainly deal with procedural issues.
dr/hc (AFP, Reuters, AP)