A court in South Korea has sentenced the former head of the police station overseeing Seoul’s Itaewon district to three years in prison over a deadly Halloween crowd crush two years ago.
The Seoul Western District Court handed down the ruling to Lee Im-jae, the former head of the Yongsan Police Station, on Monday. Prosecutors had sought a seven-year jail term.
The crowd crush on October 29 in 2022 killed more than 150 people, including two Japanese women.
The former chief was accused of professional negligence resulting in death and injury by failing to take necessary measures, as well as falsification of public documents by creating a false report on the incident.
The district court said the danger was foreseeable, but it acquitted Lee of the document falsification charge.
The court also acquitted the head of Yongsan Ward Office, Park Hee-young, who was indicted on similar charges. The ruling said it is difficult to conclude that the ward chief bears a duty of care in managing crowded areas.
Nearly two years have passed since the fatal incident, but families of the victims insist that the full truth behind the tragedy has yet to be uncovered.
An investigative committee comprised of experts and others has been set up, aiming to conduct further probes into the causes of the incident.