The estranged brother-in-law of Rep. Park Geun-hye was again sentenced to an 18-month prison term on Thursday for defaming the ruling Saenuri Party's presidential frontrunner.
The appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court upheld a lower court's prison term for Shin Dong-uk, 43, the husband of Rep. Park's younger sister Park Geun-ryong, for accusing his sister-in-law of stealing control of a local education foundation from his wife and plotting to kidnap and murder him.
The sisters are daughters of late President Park Chung-hee, who ruled the country for 18 years until his assassination in 1979.
"Allegations made by Shin have all been found to be false," the high court said. It added the prison sentence was meted out because the former college professor tried to pressure Rep. Park for profit and caused considerable pain to those involved.
Shin, who taught at Baekseok Culture University in Cheonan, 92 kilometers south of Seoul, was indicted in May on charges for accusing Rep. Park of being involved in the management power struggle over the education foundation, which was created by late President Park.
The latest ruling follows an earlier court sentence that gave a one-and-a-half year prison term to Shin for posting 40 writings on Park's Internet homepage slandering the five-term lawmaker. He was also sentenced to an additional six-month prison term, suspended for two years, for producing false press releases against Park.
Thursday's appellate court ruling combined the two cases, court officials said. (Yonhap)