Fifteen crew members from the sunken South Korean ferry pleaded their case at a district court in South Korea on Tuesday, while the families of the hundreds of people who died in the disaster protested outside.

Kim Byung-kwon, the representative of the families of the victims, called for the death penalty for the crew of the Sewol.

The Captain (Lee Joon-seok) and three other crew members are charged with homicide - a charge that could carry the death penalty, though South Korea has not

executed anyone since late 1997.

Prosecutors accuse them of tacitly colluding to abandon the ship while being aware that the passengers would be trapped and killed when the ship sank.

All surviving crew members responsible for the ship's navigation have been charged with negligence and with failing to do their duty to protect passengers.

The captain's lawyer said the factors that caused the sinking couldn't be controlled by a captain who operated the ferry only six days a month as a contract worker.

The lawyer said the captain didn't flee the ship, tried to correct the ferry's balance and asked people to wear life vests, even though he was injured.

Members of the crew have claimed that after evacuating the ship they stayed with the Coast Guard and helped to rescue the passengers.

Nearly two months after the sinking, 292 bodies have been recovered and 12 people are still missing.

AP TELEVISION

1. Relatives of victims of Sewol ferry disaster protesting outside Gwangju District Court, where ferry crew are having a preliminary hearing, police guard the court

2. Relatives sitting on road during protest

3. Relatives holding placards reading (Korean) "Our children wait for you murderers," and "Our children's souls are watching you"

4. Various of representative of Sewol victims' families Kim Byung-kwon chanting (Korean) "Come out if you are not ashamed, come out"

5. Kim speaking to media outside court

6. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Byung-kwon, representative of Sewol victims' families:

"If they do not get the death penalty, it would be nonsense that they can walk freely in our country. They do not deserve to walk freely in our country."

7. Gwangju Regional Court Judge and spokesman Hahn Jee-hyung walking in to news briefing

8. Wide of conference room

9. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Hahn Jee-hyung, Gwangju District Court Judge and spokesman:

"Generally there were assertions that the crew members did not have the intention to murder or to escape. In the case of the Captain (Lee Joon-seok), he claims he announced the order to abandon the ship before he got out of the ferry. As for the accused (crew members) Park and Oh, they said they tried to open up the life boat on board the ship and after getting out of the ferry they had been helping with the rescue of passengers along with the Coast Guard."

10. Cutaway of journalists

11. Wide of conference room

Relatives of victims of the Sewol ferry disaster said on Tuesday they will fight for justice after a South Korean court handed a 36-year sentence to the captain of the sunken ferry.

Gwangju District Court acquitted Captain Lee Joon-seok of a homicide charge because it was difficult to believe that he knew his actions would cause such a huge number of deaths, according to a court statement.

It said that Lee had issued an evacuation order.

The court did convict him however of being professionally negligent and abandoning his passengers during the disaster in April that killed more than 300 people.

Family members criticised the verdict for being too lenient, telling the media outside the court they would tighten their resolve until "we reveal the truth at the Court of Appeal through a Special Investigative Committee."

Whilst Ko Young-hee, the mother of student victim Choi Jin-hyuk said a Sewol Ferry Investigation Committee would now be formed that will collect evidence to send to the Court of Appeal.

"We will do anything to make the crew members....pay for their crimes accordingly" she added.

Prosecutors and the crew members have one week to appeal, according to the court.

The chief engineer got 30 years, and 13 other crew members were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, Yonhap news agency and other South Korean media reported, citing the court.

Lee has apologised for abandoning the passengers, but said he didn't know his action would lead to so many deaths.

The widely vilified Lee could have received a death sentence for the homicide charges.

A total of 476 people were aboard the ship and only 172 of them were rescued.

AP TELEVISION

Gwangju - 11 November 2014

1. News conference by family members of Danwon High School student victims from the Sewol Ferry disaster

2. Close of family members

3. Close of a mother of one student victim

4. Father of one student victim talking during the conference

5. SOUNDBITE (Korean): Park Jong-dae, father of Danwon High School student victim Park Soo-hyun:

"I kind of expected this situation (no death-penalty or life-sentence given) could occur. However, it is not even the life-sentence, but 36 years in jail. I cannot stop help myself being terrified by the fact that the rest of the crew members, as this (student victim's) mother has already said, received sentences as low as five-years in jail. I want to say 'sorry' to the children, and I want to promise them that we will tighten our resolve until we reveal the truth at the Court of Appeal through a Special Investigative Committee."

6. Journalists at news conference

7. Wide of news conference

8. SOUNDBITE (Korean): Ko Young-hee, Mother of Danwon High School student victim Choi Jin-hyuk:

"All my daily life and future has been crushed forever since the 16th of April. All mothers' lives have disappeared in such a way. Just five-years in jail to pay for what they did? Now, the Sewol Ferry Investigation Committee will be formed. We will collect every bit of evidence we have and send it to the Court of Appeal. We will do anything to make the crew members, who abandoned our children, escaped, ran away, and thought of only their lives, pay for their crimes accordingly."

9. Close of two female family members

10. Ko talking at news conference

11. Journalists at news conference

12. End of news conference

A French judge has refused a request to free the daughter of a South Korean tycoon who is thought to be the owner of a ferry that sank in April, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing.

French police arrested Yoo Somena on May 27 an international arrest warrant on suspicion of involvement in embezzling 8 million US dollars between 2004 and 2013.

She is the daughter of Yoo Byung-eun, a mysterious billionaire who South Korean authorities believe was the owner of the Sewol ferry.

The judge said on Wednesday that Yoo Somena, who is facing extradition to South Korea, might flee France where she has been resident since the beginning of 2013.

He noted that Yoo's brother, who also lived in France, disappeared in April.

Yoo's lawyer, said that she might get an "unfair trial" if she is extradited to South Korea.

"South Korean authorities will mistreat Madame Yoo the moment she steps foot in a Korean trial," Maisonneuve said.

He added that Yoo feels she is a victim of harassment by South Korean authorities.

AP TELEVISION

1. Exterior of Palais de Justice

2. Interior of Palais de Justice

3. Sign reading (French) "Appeals Court"

4. Patrick Maisonneuve, Yoo Somena's lawyer, walking towards media

5. Various of courtroom sketch of Yoo Somena during hearing, stuck on wall

6. SOUNDBITE: (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, Yoo Somena's lawyer:

"What the president of the court clearly told her: Madame, your father, your brothers are said to be on the run so consequently, in line with that, you should remain in detention, even though she has all the required guarantees for France."

7. Courtroom sketch

8. SOUNDBITE: (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, Yoo Somena's lawyer:

"We don't really understand what she is being blamed for or in any case in as far as embezzlement is concerned, we submitted documents related to that claim. The court has them. This will probably not be of interest to the South Korean authorities because the South Korean authorities are looking for those responsible for this tragic ferry accident."

9. Close up of courtroom sketch

10. SOUNDBITE: (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, Yoo Somena's lawyer:

"She feels she is the victim of harassment by South Korean authorities. This is why she doesn't want to go to South Korea, that she will not accept being extradited and I can assure you we will do everything possible, even go to the European Court of Justice (to prevent it)."

11. Maisonneuve talking to media

12. SOUNDBITE: (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, Yoo Somena's lawyer:

"There is no guarantee that in South Korea she could get a fair trial. No guarantees today. And I think that she might even get an unfair trial. I am saying this openly, you can relay it: South Korean authorities will mistreat Madame Yoo the moment she steps foot in a Korean trial."

13. Maisonneuve leaving

South Korean prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for the captain of a ferry that sank in April, killing more than 300 people, according to a news report on Monday.

Yonhap news agency reported that prosecutors also requested that a district court issue life sentences to three other key crew members tasked with navigating the ship on charges that they were negligent and failed to protect passengers when the ferry was sinking on April 16.

The crew members appeared before a court in Gwangju on Monday, with relatives of the victims gathered outside, pressing their call for a maximum punishment.

The captain of the Sewol and three other crew members have been indicted on murder charges alleging they were negligent and failed to protect passengers in need when the ferry was sinking.

Most of the dead were high school students who were travelling to a resort island for a school trip.

The 15 crew members who survived the disaster were among the first groups of people to flee the sinking vessel.

In their defence, the crew members have previously claimed that after evacuating the ship they stayed with the Coast Guard and helped to rescue the passengers.

AP TELEVISION

1. Parents of victims of the Sewol ferry disaster and members of the "Sewol Ferry Disaster Gwangju Citizen Committee", which supports the victims' families, gathered outside Gwangju District Court

2. Various of two mothers of student victims at gathering

3. Wide of gathering

4. Close of mother of student victim crying and wiping her eye

5. Two mothers of student victims at gathering

6. Pan of gathering

7. SOUNDBITE (Korean): Lim Young-ae, mother of a student victim of the Sewol ferry disaster:

"As a parent, I have to know why my child died, by revealing the truth (of the disaster). To appease my child's unfair death by revealing the truth, we parents want these crew members to get the maximum punishment."

8. Wide of gathering

9. Mothers raising fists during gathering

SHOTLIST:

Crew enter court to hear verdict in trial over disaster that killed more than 300

2031950

SOUTH KOREAN COAST GUARD HANDOUT

FILE: At sea, near Jindo island - 16 April 2014

1. aerials of capsized ship, rescue boats approaching

FOREIGN MEDIA POOL

Gwangju - 11 November 2014

2. Police escorting ferry Captain Lee Joon-seok up staircase

Court scenes as judge sentences captain of Sewol ferry to 36 years in jail

2031990

FOREIGN MEDIA POOL

Gwangju - 11 Nov 2014

++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: THE JUDGE HAS ORDERED THAT NO FACES OF THE DEFENDANTS BE SHOWN ON CAMERA IN COURT++

3. Wide of courtroom where crew members of sunken 'Sewol' ferry were waiting for their verdicts

4. Mid of judge

5. Security and prosecutors im courtroom

6. Mid of judges at courtroom

STORYLINE:

On November 11th 2014 crew members from a sunken South Korean ferry arrived in court on o hear the verdicts following one of the country's deadliest disasters in many decades.

The sinking of the 'Sewol' is believed to have killed 304 people, mostly teenage students travelling to a resort island for a school trip in April 2014.

295 bodies have been found.

The ferry's crew members are facing charges in Gwangju District Court of negligence and abandonment of passengers.

Prosecutors have demanded a death penalty for the ship's 68-year-old captain, Lee Joon-seok, and life sentences for three other key crew members.

They also requested that 11 other crew members be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.

The 15 crew members on trial were among the first people to be rescued from the ship when it began listing en route from Incheon, west of Seoul, to the resort island of Jeju.

***

A South Korean court on November 11th handed a 36-year prison sentence to the captain of the sunken ferry 'Sewol', saying he was professionally negligent and abandoned his passengers during the disaster in April that killed more than 300 people.

The chief engineer received 30 years, and 13 other crew members were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, Yonhap news agency and other South Korean media reported, citing the Gwangju District Court in southern South Korea.

Captain Lee Joon-seok and three other key crew members were earlier indicted by prosecutors on homicide and other charges.

Eleven others faced less serious charges.

Lee has apologised for abandoning the passengers, but said he didn't know his action would lead to so many deaths.

Prosecutors and the crew members have one week to appeal, according to the court.

The 15 crew members tasked with navigating the 'Sewol' have faced scathing public criticism because they escaped the sinking ship while many of their passengers were still trapped inside.

A total of 476 people were aboard the ship and only 172 were rescued.

Most of the dead were teenage students travelling to a resort island on a school trip.

Nearly seven months after the sinking, 295 bodies have been recovered but nine are still missing.

South Korean officials said earlier on Tuesday that they have ended searches for the missing because there was only a remote chance of finding more bodies while worries have grown over the safety of divers involved in the recovery operation.

SHOTLIST:

Protest by families of Sewol ferry victims

2054482

AP TELEVISION

Seoul - 11 April 2015

1. Wide of Sewol ferry victims' families and other activists marching in demonstration

2. Demonstrators clashing with police

Massive candlelit image in honour of Sewol victims

2055279

AP TELEVISION

Seoul - 17 Apr 2015

++NIGHT SHOTS++

3. People lighting up candles outside Seoul City Hall in hopes of setting a new Guinness record for creating the largest candlelight image

4. Candles

Sewol captain gets life sentence

2056722

POOL

Gwangju - 28 April 2015

5. Crew members and the captain, Lee Joon-seok (last one) going down stairs to get to the court room

AP TELEVISION

Gwangju - 28 April 2015

6. Judge panel seated in the court room

7. Captain and crew members seated

STORYLINE:

Sewol ferry victims' families and other activists held a rally on April 11th 2015 in Seoul to urge the government to expedite the salvage of the sunken vessel.

Police estimated that around 2,500 took part in the rally, which included a march towards the South Korean Presidential Office.

There were clashes between some activists and police officers, who were blocking the protesters' access.

The South Korean government said on Friday that its feasibility study showed that salvaging the ferry is possible - but also said that it has not decided whether to do so.

The victim's families oppose the government's enforcement ordinance of a special law relating to the disaster, which they say is holding back a full, independent investigation into what happened.

The Sewol - carrying 476 people, mostly secondary school students from Danwon High School - sank on April 16th 2014.

A total of 295 bodies have been recovered. Nine others remain missing.

Officials have blamed negligence by crew members, excessive cargo and improper storage for the sinking, along with slow rescue efforts.

A court sentenced 15 crew members last year to between five and 36 years in prison.

***

Thousands of South Koreans gathered to try to set a new record for creating the largest candlelight image to commemorate the victims of the sunken ferry Sewol on April 17th.

The attempt came a day after the first anniversary of the incident, which killed over 300 people.

The initial target was to gather 4,160 people but the number eventually reached 4,475.

They stood in the shape of the sunken ferry, and demanded the South Korean government reveal the truth behind the incident, and salvage the sunken ferry to find nine passengers, who are still missing.

Jeon Myung-sun, the father of Jeon Chan-ho, one of the Danwon High School students who died in the incident, resolved to keep urging the South Korean government to punish the people responsible for the disaster.

Other participants also called on the government to do more.

The Sewol ferry sank on April 2014 off the southwestern coast of South Korea.

It was en route to Jeju Island, carrying 476 passengers.

A total of 304 people died, including 250 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, who were on their way to their first field trip as high school students.

***

A South Korean appellate court on April 28th handed down a sentence of life in prison to the captain of a ferry that sank in 2014, killing more than 300 people.

The sentencing is harsher than a November verdict by a district court that sentenced Lee Joon-seok to 36 years in prison for negligence and abandoning passengers in need.

Lee's sentence was increased because the Gwangju High Court convicted him on homicide charges, according to court spokesman.

In the November ruling, Lee was acquitted of homicide.

The appellate court sentenced 14 other navigation crew members to 18 months to 12 years in prison.

In November they had received sentences of five to 30 years in prison.

Jeon said both prosecutors and the crew members have one week to appeal the verdicts.

Most of the victims were teenagers travelling to a southern island for a school trip.

A total of 295 bodies have been retrieved but nine others are missing.

A French appeals court on Wednesday decided keep in detention, pending extradition, the daughter of a South Korean tycoon, who is believed to be the owner of a ferry that sank last month.

The disaster left more than 300 people dead or missing.

Yoo Somena appeared before a judge on Wednesday.

She was detained early on Tuesday at her home near the Champs-Elysees in Paris, said officials familiar with the matter on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the matter.

French police were acting on an international arrest warrant issued May 8 by South Korean officials on suspicion that she was involved in embezzlement from 2004 to 2013, the officials said.

But Yoo's French lawyer said the claims were without basis.

"I regret that the French authorities and justice - even if they have the right to execute international mandates - lend themselves to something without any judicial base concerning the accusations against her," said Patrick Maisonneuve.

Yoo, 47, is the daughter of Yoo Byung-eun, a mysterious billionaire whom South Korean authorities believe to be the owner of the Sewol ferry that sank April 16.

Nearly six weeks after the disaster, 288 bodies have been recovered and 16 people are missing.

Most on board were high school students.

South Korean authorities have issued a reward of half a million dollars for tips leading to Yoo Byung-eun, who faces allegations of tax evasion, embezzlement and professional negligence.

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide pan of Palais de Justice

2. Close of inscription, reading: (French) "...equality, brotherhood"

3. Tracking shot from inside car of police vehicles outside Palais de Justice

4. Various of police vehicles outside Palais de Justice

5. SOUNDBITE (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, defence lawyer for South Korean woman, Yoo Somena:

"A decision has been taken on a Korean political level in order to jeopardise her and her family, because those responsible have to be found, scapegoats have to be found concerning the tragic accident that has occurred."

6. Close of door outside courtroom

7. Maisonneuve and assistant going into courtroom

8. Close of sign reading: (French) "Inquiry rooms"

9. SOUNDBITE (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, defence lawyer for South Korean woman, Yoo Somena:

"I regret that the French authorities and justice - even if they have the right to execute international mandates - lend themselves to something without any judicial base concerning the accusations against her, like embezzlement since 2004. She is accused of embezzlement in a society in 2004, meanwhile she only became a member of that company in 2008."

10. Zoom out of police vehicle inside Palais de Justice compound

11. Pan exterior of Palais de Justice

12. SOUNDBITE (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, defence lawyer for South Korean woman, Yoo Somena:

"I think she should have been freed until the appeal court could examine the judicial files delivered by the Korean judicial authorities. I'm waiting for these files impatiently. The Korean letter stamp has been executed by the French justice. It's a bit brutal what I'm saying, but I say it like that."

13. Various exteriors of Palais de Justice

The daughter of a South Korean fugitive businessman believed linked to a deadly April ferry disaster must stay in a French jail pending a decision on whether she is extradited, a court said on Wednesday.

Yoo Somena, daughter of billionaire Yoo Byung-eun, is facing extradition to South Korea based on suspicions of embezzling eight (m) million US dollars between 2004 and 2013.

She was detained on 27 May in Paris on an international warrant, but asked to be released pending the extradition decision on 17 September.

A Paris judge on Wednesday rejected the request, arguing that she could flee the country.

South Korean authorities are seeking to arrest Yoo Byung-eun, who is accused of tax evasion, embezzlement and professional negligence.

His family owns the parent company of the Sewol ferry that sank on 16 April, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing.

AP TELEVISION

July 9, 2014

1. Wide interior of Palais de Justice

2. Sign reading (French) "Appeals Court"

3. Various of Patrick Maisonneuve, lawyer representing Yoo Somena, daughter of billionaire Yoo Byung-eun, who is facing extradition to South Korea

4. Maisonneuve entering courtroom

5. Maisonneuve in court

FILE: 11 June 2014

6. Various of courtroom sketch of Yoo Somena during hearing

July 9, 2014

7. Maisonneuve walking outside court room

8. SOUNDBITE (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, Yoo Somena's lawyer:

"The judges believe she could flee France and thus escape the French judicial process, and as a result believe that she should stay in French jail. Obviously I do not share this vision, as Mrs Yoo works here, has a house here, and a son here, that she has been here for more than a year, and has (in this country) the necessary guarantees."

9. Cutaway of photographer

10. SOUNDBITE (French) Patrick Maisonneuve, Yoo Somena's lawyer:

"She wants to defend her case because she knows that in South Korea she wouldn't have a fair trial. She is very conscious of that and, by the way, no South Korean lawyer has accepted to defend her - lawyers would have to be appointed to her case, but she doesn't have the guarantee of a fair trial in South Korea, and it is for that reason that we will reject the request for extradition."

11. Maisonneuve walking away

RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY

SHOTLIST

AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Gwangju - 28 April 2015

1. News conference by the representatives of Sewol ferry victims' families in front of the Gwangju High Court

2. Sign reading (Korean) "There are still people inside the Sewol Ferry. Salvage the ferry immediately. Zero rescued, is this a nation?"

3. Father of Sewol ferry victim Jeon Chan-ho and representative of Sewol ferry victims' families Jeon Myung-sun speaking before the media

4. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Jeon Myung-sun, father of Sewol ferry victim Jeon Chan-ho and representative of Sewol ferry victims' families

"Hearing the result of this sentencing trial, they sentenced captain Lee Joon-seok 36 years in prison during the first trial, haven't they? Who will eventually die when he gets old. However, if he was convicted on homicide charges, he should have received death penalty. Imprisonment for life? They want to give life sentence to a person so that he can peacefully die when he is old?"

5. Close of a sign reading (Korean) "Ferry Sewol Disaster. Prosecutors must thoroughly investigate and the court should fairly decide."

6. Wide of Jeon talking in front of the court

7. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Jeon Myung-sun, father of Sewol ferry victim Jeon Chan-ho and representative of Sewol ferry victims' families

"It doesn't end here. We will not accept this court's decision, and we will take this to the Supreme Court."

8. Cho Sun-ae, mother of Sewol ferry victim Kang Hyuk, talking in front of the court

9. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Cho Sun-ae, 47, Mother of Ferry Sewol victim Kang Hyuk

"The sentencing have been reduced by one and a half and one third and it has become an occasion to lessen the punishment of the crew. I am deeply saddened. Today's result has brought a big disappointment to us families."

10. Close of signs, reading in Korean "Punish those who are responsible for the ferry Sewol disaster," and "The court must unveil the truth, which the government is trying to hide."

11. News conference

12. Court spokesman Jeon Ilho taking his seat

13. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Jeon Ilho, Gwangju High Court Public Relations Officer:

"The Appeal Court considered the fact that an announcement was made urging the passengers to stay put, even though the captain and crew members were escaping and the measures regarding the order to abandon ship were not taken. Based on these facts, the court found that the crew members did not give the order to abandon the ship and acknowledged that Captain Lee Jun-seok was guilty of wilful negligence."

14. Jeon briefing the media

15. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Jeon Ilho, Gwangju High Court Public Relations Officer:

"While punishing Captain Lee Jun-seok for not living up to his important responsibility as the captain, the crew members, who follow the captain's orders, got their sentences reduced. It is based on the recently set standards for derelict crimes, (on the) measures they took to rescue the passengers, the reason they came on board in the first place and their medical conditions. As a result, Captain Lee Jun-seok gets the life sentence and the rest of the crew got the sentences ranging from one and a half to 12 years."

16. Close of Jeon talking

17. Jeon talking to the media

STORYLINE

The South Korean ferry captain responsible for last year's disaster that killed more than 300 people, mostly school children, was given an increased sentence of life in prison on Tuesday by an appellate court that convicted him of homicide.

A district court in November had sentenced Lee Joon-seok to 36 years in prison for negligence and abandoning passengers in need but acquitted him of homicide in the Sewol ferry disaster.

Victims' relatives criticised both verdicts, saying it was too lenient.

"He should have received death penalty. Imprisonment for life? They want to give life sentence to a person so that he can peacefully die when he is old?" Jeon Myung-sun, father of Sewol ferry victim Jeon Chan-ho told the protesting families of the victims who had staged a demonstration outside Gwangju High Court.

Lee's sentence was increased because the Gwangju High Court additionally convicted him on the homicide charges while upholding most of other charges that led to his November conviction.

Last week, South Korea formally announced it would salvage the ship from the ocean floor off the country's southwest coast.

Relatives of the victims hope that might locate the missing, including four students, and help reveal more details about the sinking.

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