![\"ms-park-support\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Ms-Park-support.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOusted South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been arrested and taken into custody over a corruption scandal that led to her dismissal.<\/p>\n
The 65-year-old was driven to a detention centre south of Seoul after a court approved her arrest.<\/p>\n
She is accused of allowing her close friend Choi Soon-sil to extort money from companies, including Samsung, in return for political favours.<\/p>\n
Ms Park, who was removed from office earlier this month, denies the claims.<\/p>\n
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She is the third former president of South Korea to be arrested over criminal allegations, Yonhap reports.<\/p>\n
The Seoul Central District Court earlier issued a warrant to detain Ms Park while she is investigated on charges of bribery, abuse of authority, coercion and leaking government secrets.<\/p>\n
It followed a nearly nine-hour court hearing on Thursday that Ms Park attended.<\/p>\n
“It is justifiable and necessary to arrest [Ms Park] as key charges were justified and there is risk of evidence being destroyed,” the court said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Live television footage showed a black sedan carrying her to the detention facility from the prosecutor’s office where she had been waiting.<\/p>\n
Despite the early hour, some 50 supporters, waving national flags and demanding her release, were at the gate to greet her, the AFP news agency reports.<\/p>\n
Ms Park can be held for up to 20 days before being formally charged.<\/p>\n
If convicted she could face more than 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n Ms Park lost her presidential immunity and was dismissed from her post when the constitutional court upheld a decision by parliament in December to impeach her.<\/p>\n Ms Choi is accused of using her presidential connections to pressure companies to give millions of dollars in donations to non-profit foundations she controlled.<\/p>\n Ms Park is alleged to have been personally involved in this, and to have given Ms Choi unacceptable levels of access to official documents.<\/p>\n Judges had said the former president had broken the law by allowing Ms Choi to meddle in state affairs, and had breached guidelines on official secrets by leaking numerous documents.<\/p>\n Ms Choi and Samsung’s acting head Lee Jae-yong, also involved in the scandal, are being held in the same detention centre to where Ms Park has been sent. They are also being tried separately.<\/p>\n Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is loyal to Ms Park, is now the acting president and an election is to be held by 9 May.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been arrested and taken into custody over a corruption scandal that led to her dismissal. The 65-year-old was driven to a detention centre south of Seoul after a court approved her arrest. She is accused of allowing her close friend Choi Soon-sil to extort money from companies, including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":306609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[5729,5730],"yoast_head":"\n
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