South Korean Captain Gets 39 In Prison

The Gwangju District Court in southern South Korea was on Tuesday sentenced Capt. Lee Joon-seok 36 years, crew members got 15 and 20 years in prison for negligence and abandoning passengers when his ship sank earlier this year, killing more than 300 people, mostly high school students.

Yahoo News reports- The highly anticipated verdict came on the same day officials called off searches for the final nine victims and reflects the continuing grief and finger-pointing over one of the worst disasters in South Korean history. Victims' relatives immediately criticized the sentences for Capt. Lee Joon-seok and 14 other crew members as too lenient. Lee was acquitted of a homicide charge, which could have carried a death sentence, because the court said there wasn't proof that he knew his actions would cause such a massive loss of life.

"Do you know how many children are dead?" one relative shouted out during the sentencing, according to Kook Joung-don, a lawyer for the relatives. "This isn't right," another screamed.

Lee has said he issued an evacuation order. But he told reporters days after his arrest that he withheld the evacuation order because rescuers had yet to arrive and he feared for the passengers' safety in the cold, swift waters. Read more on Yahoo News