Seoul, May 23 (IANS): Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday pleaded innocent to charges of corruption and abuse of power as her trial began here.
The conservative former leader -- who faces a life term in jail -- pleaded not guilty to the 18 offences she has been charged with, including abuse of power, coercion, and leaking of official documents, BBC reported.
In her first appearance in public since her arrest in March, she arrived at the Seoul Central District Court handcuffed and wearing a badge with her prison number, 503.
Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil are accused of extorting around $50 million from some of South Korea's biggest companies, including Samsung, in return for political favours.
Choi, who was dubbed the Korean Rasputin for her proximity to Park, sat alongside the ousted President at the opening of the trial and denied wrongdoing.
Park is also accused of leaking state secrets by giving Choi access to her work, including asking her to edit her speeches, and of running a blacklist of media figures who were to be barred from receiving state support because they had been critical of her government.
As the trial opened in Seoul, the ex-President's lawyers said there was "no reason for President Park to force companies to donate money which she was unable to use for herself".
When asked for her occupation by judge Kim Se-yun as the trial began, Park replied: "I don't have any."
Park's lead lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha, argued much of the evidence presented by the prosecutors were "merely press articles," and questioned their admissibility in court as proof of crime.
If convicted for the bribery charge, Park would face at least 10 years in prison.
Park is the third South Korean leader on trial for corruption but the first democratically elected one. The two previous cases involved former military dictators imprisoned on corruption charges in the 1990s.
The acting head of Samsung Group, Lee Jae-Yong, and four other Samsung executives were already on trial for allegedly giving bribes to Park and Choi in exchange for government support for a controversial merger of two Samsung Group-affiliated companies.
Former Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo and the Chief Investment Officer of the National Pension Service (NPS) Hong Wan-seon were also on trial for allegedly pressuring the NPS to accept the merger.
