MOSCOW, October 13 (Sputnik) — Crew members of a South Korean ferry which sank in April killing 304 passengers are appealing their convictions of criminal negligence, Reuters reports.
"I will appeal for my clients unless the judges hand down a not guilty verdict," a lawyer for the convicted told Reuters.
A South Korean district court on Tuesday sentenced the ship’s captain, engineer and 13 other crew members to prison. On Thursday, eight of the sentenced crew filed appeals.
The Captain, Lee Joon-seok, received a 36-year prison sentence for gross negligence and dereliction of duty, but was acquitted of murder. Joon-seok is reported by Reuters to not be among the names of the men appealing against the conviction. The ship’s chief engineer, Park Gi-Ho, received a 30-year sentence for murder because he did not assist two other injured crew members.
Thirteen other members of the crew were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 20 years. South Korean news agency Yonhap reports they were charged with “abandonment and violation of a ship safety act.”
According to The Guardian, the court said in its ruling that it had rejected the idea of issuing more sentences for murder: “We find it hard to conclude that the defendants … were aware that all of the victims would die because of their actions and had the intention to kill them.”
South Korean prosecutors expressed disappointment with the sentences, and told Reuters of their intention to appeal for harsher verdicts. According to Yonhap, victims’ families reacted furiously to the sentencing. "So many children have died," one relative shouted at the judge, "Is this the price of our children's lives?"
Of the 304 passengers confirmed dead or missing, 250 were schoolchildren. The dangerously overloaded ferry was executing a turn on a routine voyage to the holiday island of Jeju when it capsized. The surviving crew members were reviled in the South Korean press when pictures and reports surfaced of them jumping to safety, after having instructed passengers not to leave the ship.
On Tuesday South Korean officials announced that they have ended the search for the bodies of nine remaining missing passengers. The Guardian reports that relatives of the missing told a news conference: “As our loved ones remain trapped in the cold waters this decision is unbearably painful for us. But we requested that the search operations be stopped because of safety concerns.” Worsening conditions in the sea and the ship itself have made the search for bodies dangerous for divers.
