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Yeah, I don't understand the comments praising Korea for this. A tradition of prosecuting political opponents and then pardoning all of them is a mockery of the
by kube-system 9mo ago
Yeah, I don't understand the comments praising Korea for this. A tradition of prosecuting political opponents and then pardoning all of them is a mockery of the rule of law, regardless of what they actually did.
- miyoji 9mo agoIf he's pardoned and released, sure, it's a mockery, but holding public officials accountable for their abuse of the public trust is necessary to the rule of law and democracy.
- tinfoilhatter 9mo agoCurious where in the world this happens (holding officials accountable for violating public trust). It certainly doesn't happen in the United States.
- mschuster91 9mo agoIsrael sent a former prime minister to prison. Ukraine has had many an anti-corruption sweep ever since the Russians invaded. France denied le Pen electability due to misappropriating EU funds.
- tinfoilhatter 9mo agoI'm fairly certain that in the cases you mentioned, the people doing the jailing / penalizing are also guilty of crimes and at the very least, violating public trust. Seems to me like more tit for tat politicking.
- gunapologist99 9mo agoProsecuting political opponents is convenient and very effective, especially if friendly parties control most of the media as well.
- tinfoilhatter 9mo agoAgreed! In my experience, politicians are rarely prosecuted for the crimes they commit unless there is some benefit for the political opposition. Even then, they're usually let off the hook eventually. In reality, most politicians are on the same team, serving the same goals. Any semblance of opposition is kayfabe meant to convince the populace they have a choice, when in reality they do not.
- kelipso 8mo agoBush is the most obvious example and he never got near a prison.
- kube-system 9mo agoYeah, but this story is not very indicative of that actually happening in the context of modern Korean history... they have arrested 4 prior presidents, and they've pardoned all of them. It's a pattern at this point.
- httpz 9mo agoNot that I agree with the pardons, but former presidents are usually old. Letting your political opponent die in prison can have a massive backlash so most presidents would rather not let that happen.