Impeached South Korea president: what Park did wrong

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South Korean President Park Geun-Hye speaks during an address to the nation, at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on November 29, 2016. South Korea's scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye said Tuesday she was willing to stand down early and would let parliament decide on her fate. / AFP PHOTO / AFP PHOTO AND POOL / JEON HEON-KYUN

South Korea’s Park Geun-Hye was fired by the Constitutional Court on Friday, becoming the country’s first president to be sacked by impeachment.

She was brought down by a sprawling corruption and influence-peddling scandal centred on her secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil, who is on trial for using her ties to the head of state to force local firms to “donate” nearly $70 million to non-profit foundations Choi controlled.

Park has been named as Choi’s accomplice and is accused of letting her handle a wide range of state affairs, including senior nominations.

She was impeached by parliament on 13 separate grounds, with the final decision on whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment resting with the court.

Here are the court’s main conclusions in the case.

– Breach of representative democracy –
From 2013 to 2016, a key aide to Park handed Choi secret documents over upcoming senior nominations, cabinet meetings and overseas state visits and diplomatic meetings under “Park’s orders or negligence”, the court said.

Choi often issued directions over the drafts or personally revised them, even recommending personal acquaintances for senior positions who later helped her seek benefits from state projects.

Local media reports have described Choi, a high school graduate who has never held any title or no security clearance, as a “shadow president”.

“The accused (Park)… impaired the principle of representative democracy and the rule of law,” the court said.

– Abuse of power –
Park for years not only concealed the presence of Choi but cracked down on journalists or lawmakers who tried to make public Choi’s presence and influence, “rendering the system of checks and balances ineffective”, the court found.

“The accused abused her presidential power for Choi’s personal gain… in violation of the Constitution, the laws on public servants and the ethical codes on public servants,” the court said.

– Violation of property rights –
Park forced a number of top firms including Samsung and Lotte to donate a large amount of money to the Choi-controlled foundations.

She also interfered with management decisions at firms including Hyundai and KT — a major wireless operator — to force them to award lucrative contracts to firms controlled by Choi.

“The actions by the accused… that directly or indirectly helped Choi reap personal gains not only violated the companies’ property rights but also the freedom of enterprises,” the court said.

– Breach of freedom of press –
According to the parliamentary accusations, the Blue House threatened a tax probe and legal action against the Segye Ilbo newspaper after it reported on alleged interference in state affairs by Choi’s then husband, forcing the daily’s president to step down.

There was no evidence for the allegation, the court said.

– Violation of citizens’ rights to dignity –
Park stayed at her residence in the first critical hours when the Sewol ferry sank in April 2014, killing more than 300 people, mostly schoolchildren.

She has refused to specify what she was doing, sparking wild rumours including a tryst and a cosmetic surgery, and parliament charged her with negligence.

Park had a duty to “sincerely” protect citizens, but the definition was too abstract, the court said, so that the issue “cannot be a subject of judgment at the impeachment review”.

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Pakistan threatens to block social media over ‘blasphemy’

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Facebook logos AFP PHOTO / Justin TALLIS

A Pakistani court has ordered the government to open an investigation into online “blasphemy”, threatening to ban social media networks if they failed to censor content deemed insulting to Islam, lawyers said Thursday.

The issue came to the fore in January when five secular activists known for their outspoken views against religious extremism and the powerful military were disappeared, presumed abducted by state agencies according to opposition parties and international rights groups.

Four of them were later returned to their families weeks later, but not before they were tarnished by a virulent campaign to paint them enemies of Islam deserving execution.

Judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court asked the government to form an investigative committee to report back next Monday over the issue, saying he could order social media sites to be blocked if offending content remained online.

“The judge ordered the government to make a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) with Muslim officials only to look into the blasphemy issue,” said advocate Tariq Asad, who represents the hardline Red Mosque which brought the case to court.

Rights groups say the label of blasphemer is liberally applied by religious conservatives in order to silence criticism of extremism.

Even unproven allegations can be fatal. At least 65 people including lawyers, judges and activists have been murdered by vigilantes over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to recent think tank report.

Pakistan previously banned Facebook for hosting allegedly blasphemous content for two weeks in 2010 while YouTube was unavailable from 2012 to 2016 over an amateur film about the Prophet Muhammad that led to global riots.

But Islamabad later came to agreements with major internet firms to block within Pakistan material that violated its laws, generally once the companies had performed their own cross-checks.

Yasser Latif Hamdani, a lawyer who worked to get YouTube unblocked, said previous web censorship had also originated with court orders and the judge could succeed in implementing a fresh set of bans.

“In this case you would have to apply to the Supreme Court to overrule it. Would they? He’s going to couch it in religious language…It could create a lot of problems if he does that,” he said.

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President Buhari condoles Gowon over sister’s death

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Yakubu Gowon

President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with former Head of State retired Gen. Yakubu Gowon over the death of his younger sister, Kande Marthe Audu.

Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, said this in a statement he issued in Abuja on Monday.

He further said that Buhari called from London to extend his deepest condolence to Gowon and his family.

Femi said President Buhari urged the family to take solace in the fact, that Audu lived a worthy and exemplary life.

“Death is an inevitable end that must come to all mortals, and we must keep praying and working to ensure that we live a life that pleases our creator and benefits humanity,” he Buhari said.

He also prayed God to comfort the family of the deceased and grant eternal rest to the soul of Audu.

Femi quoted Gowon as thanking the President for the commiserations.

Gowon, who assured that he would not relent in praying for the unity and progress of the country, said Nigerians had embarked on prayers for the president’s speedy recovery.

Buhari also on Sunday had telephone conversation with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, where he congratulated him on his 80th birthday.

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