The prosecution Sunday (Nov 6) questioned President Park Geun-hye’s confidante and former aides in relation to an influence-peddling scandal, as investigation zeroed in on what role the president played.

Early in the morning, An Chong-bum, a former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination, was arrested on charges of abusing authority and attempted coercion, referring to his alleged involvement in raising funds for nonprofit organisations as a cover to channel money to Park’s longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.

Funds worth some 80 billion won ($70 million) was raised by contributions from local firms – including Lotte Group, SK Group and Posco – for the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation.

An and Jeong Ho-seong – a former secretary for private presidential affairs suspected of leaking government documents to Choi – were grilled Sunday, along with Choi herself.

The scandal centres on suspicions that Choi – a 60-year-old civilian and the daughter of Park’s mentor Choi Tae-min – had accessed presidential documents and classified information, meddled in various state affairs, siphoned state funds and received unlawful favors.

Woo Byung-woo – the former senior secretary for civil affairs accused of embezzlement and abuse of authority – is also being suspected of condoning Choi’s actions. He refused to comment on the issue when appearing before the prosecution for questioning Sunday.

As investigators brace themselves for the unprecedented prosecutorial questioning of an incumbent president, the focus now is on the extent to which Park was involved in the scandal.

Local media reported recently that An had said his role in raising funds for the foundations was under orders from Park herself. Another report claimed that Park ordered her staff to have the 30 biggest conglomerates in the country raise 100 billion won ($87.6 million) for the foundations, in stark contrast to her saying previously that the donations were done with a “helping hand out of good intent.”

Park on Friday issued an apology for the scandal and vowed to co-operate with the ongoing prosecutorial investigation, as well as a separate probe by an independent counsel, if necessary.

Although Park has admitted to letting Choi revise her speeches in the early part of her time in office, she claimed that this stopped as soon as the presidential staff was formed. But a tablet PC supposedly owned by Choi shows that leaking classified documents continued well into the later part of Park’s tenure, and included sensitive information such as secret military meetings with North Korea.

The Constitution states that a sitting president is immune from criminal prosecution while in office, unless he or she has committed treason via instigation.

But Kim Seon-Taek, a professor of constitutional law at Korea University, said in a recent column that the clause only postpones the time of indictment of a president until he or she has left office.

“Even if the president cannot be prosecuted immediately, one needs to be investigated for acquisition of evidence for post-retirement indictment. … Therefore an investigation for evidence gathering and preservation can and must be conducted on an incumbent president,” he wrote.

Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong on Thursday told the National Assembly that the ministry will recommend to the president that she subject herself to questioning, if deemed necessary to uncover the truth. It marked a flip-flop from an earlier stance when he said that Park would not be subject to a probe.

Local civic group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy has filed criminal charges against Park, An and Jeong, long with other Cheong Wa Dae officials and heads of local conglomerates on multiple suspicions including bribery, obstruction of civic duties, violation of laws concerning military secrets, leaking classified diplomatic relations and violating the law on presidential documents.

The prosecution has yet to apply bribery charges to anyone involved in the scandal, instead focusing on those who have abused authority.

This has raised concerns that the investigators are “going easy” on the president and her aides, by apparently not recognising the illegal nature of the foundations’ establishment.

While there has been initial debate over whether a president should be probed while in office, a series of evidence, testimonies and public anger have tilted the scales against her.

A Gallup Korea poll showed 5 per cent approval rating for Park – an all-time low for any South Korean president. An estimated 200,000 citizens also gathered in central Seoul on Saturday, demanding Park step down.

BEIJING – China effectively barred two elected pro-independence lawmakers from Hong Kong’s legislature Monday after they deliberately misread their oaths, saying that they could not be sworn in again.

An oath that did not conform to Hong Kong’s law “should be determined to be invalid, and cannot be retaken”, the Communist-controlled National People’s Congress in Beijing said in a rare interpretation of the semi-autonomous city’s constitution.

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Hong Kong police use pepper spray on demonstrators at anti-China protest

Source:

Reuters

AFP

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The National Police have launched their investigation into President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s suspicions that political actors were behind the eruption into violence of a previously peaceful rally held by Muslim and youth organisations on Friday (Nov 4).

After effectively preventing the violence from escalating, the police have moved swiftly to respond to the President’s stern statement delivered in a furious tone, by Javanese standards, late on Friday, suggesting that political actors were taking advantage of the situation.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar confirmed the police’s move on Sunday, saying that the probe “was part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged provocateurs of the riot”.

“It is part of the information that the police are currently trying to confirm. The intelligence unit of the National Police is in charge of it,” Boy said on the sidelines of an event in Nusa Dua, Bali.

More than 100,000 protesters gathered in front of the Presidential Palace on Friday calling for the criminal prosecution of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for alleged blasphemy.

The rally ended in violence as protesters defied a police order to disperse, and a small riot occurred later in Penjaringan district in North Jakarta, an area where many Chinese-Indonesians live.

The violence left one protester dead from complications related to chronic asthma and dozens injured, including a policeman who lost an eye while trying to control the hostile situation.

The Jakarta Police have released 10 protesters from detention for allegedly provoking the violence, but are yet to name any suspects.

However, the police have detained and declared 13 people suspects for allegedly instigating the riot in Penjaringan, and put 15 others on their wanted list.

While the authorities have not shed any light yet regarding specific political actors suspected of being behind the incidents, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, which holds less than 10 per cent of the seats in the House of Representatives, has already felt the heat.

The party’s executive Syariefuddin Hassan demanded on Saturday that Jokowi clarify his allegation as it could cause political instability.

“The President has to reveal the names that he alleges [were involved in the rally] in order to prevent suspicions among the public,” said Syariefuddin, former cooperatives and small and medium enterprises minister during Yudhoyono’s presidency.

Syariefuddin said Jokowi’s allegation was “very serious” and made in the middle of a “critical” situation. “Who knows? The political actors may have been those inside Jokowi’s political circle” he said.

Prior to the rally, Yudhoyono held a press conference to deliver his strong refutation of allegations that he orchestrated Friday’s rally leveled against him by the intelligence community.

He also complained about what he said was unjust treatment from the government toward him and his son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, and positioned himself as a victim of Agus’ bid to compete in the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial race against Ahok – widely regarded as Jokowi’s “golden boy”.

No Democratic Party politicians or people close to Yudhoyono attended Friday’s rally. But several bigwigs, including House deputy speakers Fadli Zon of the Gerindra Party and Fahri Hamzah of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), were seen at the protest. National Mandate Party (PAN) patron Amien Rais also attended the rally.

Gerindra and PKS remain in opposition to Jokowi’s ruling coalition, which accounts for more than 70 per cent seats in the House, while PAN recently joined the Jokowi camp. The Democratic Party has thus far remained neutral.

Jokowi’s party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), whose chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri reportedly holds a grudge against Yudhoyono, quickly defended the President’s move.

PDI-P deputy secretary-general Ahmad Basarah said it was best for political party elites to refrain from exploiting the situation to push their agendas at a time when Jakarta is preparing for a gubernatorial election.

“The election should be a chance to consolidate our democracy, not to allow anyone who wants to change the Pancasila (Indonesia’s philosophical foundation) with other ideologies,” said Basarah, who is also the spokesperson for Ahok’s election campaign team.

He says he’s sick like most people his age. But his chief mouthpiece insists he’s in the pink of health.

In yet another episode of contrasting statements, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Sunday (Nov 6) insisted that President Duterte was healthy even after the 72-year-old leader himself told a group of lawyers that he has “medical issues.”

“Malacanang (assures) the public that President Duterte is fit and healthy to perform his job as the Chief Executive,” Andanar said in a statement.

“President Duterte is not complaining of anything about his physical and mental condition,” he added.

Speaking over state-run radio station DZRB, Andanar said Mr. Duterte was “stronger than a carabao,” noting how the President was able to attend to his hectic schedule despite his advanced age.

Hectic schedule “We have seen the President’s activities on television.

He is in Samar and then he would be in Pangasinan moments later,” he said.

“Then you will see him in Davao during a Facebook live [broadcast]. For a person who is not fit, it will be impossible for him or her to do what the President is doing,” he said.

In a speech before members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines at the Manila Hotel on Friday night, Mr. Duterte told his fellow lawyers that he was “sick.”

“At this point in time, I am 72. Don’t ask me if I’m sick. Every 72-year-old in this world is sick,” said the President.

Mr. Duterte had previously admitted that he had Barrett’s esophagus, which involves changes in the tissue lining of the esophagus, and was suffering from Buerger’s disease, a constriction of the blood vessels caused by nicotine accumulation.

He said he also had a slipped disc due to a motorcycle accident a decade ago, and was also diagnosed with acute bronchitis during the campaign period.

“I have no cancer. I have four illnesses, but they are not fatal,” the President said then.