This is how you do it (in case you weren't sure)

[Scooter]

South Korean Ex-Leader Is Sentenced to Life in Prison

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday after being found guilty of leading an insurrection when he declared martial law in 2024 and plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.

Mr. Yoon, 65, has been on trial since April on a series of criminal charges stemming from that short-lived martial law declaration. The judges at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ruled on the most serious of them: being the ringleader of an insurrection. Prosecutors had demanded a death sentence.

Mr. Yoon denied the charges against him. He has a week to appeal the verdict and ruling.

South Koreans met the specter of military rule again when Mr. Yoon declared martial law on the night of Dec. 3, 2024. He said it was necessary to eliminate what he called “anti-state forces” within the opposition-dominated National Assembly. He called the legislature a “den of criminals” who he said used their parliamentary majority power to paralyze his government.

His decree banned all political activities and placed the news media under military control. Armed troops raided the National Assembly and the National Election Commission. Prosecutors also accused Mr. Yoon of ordering troops to arrest his political enemies.

Public outrage almost immediately scuttled Mr. Yoon’s ​attempt to rule by martial law. As soon as they saw Mr. Yoon declare ​it on TV, citizens rushed to the National Assembly to confront the troops who had come to take over the legislature​ under the president’s orders. While the crowd held the troops back​ to prevent them from seizing its main chamber, lawmakers gathered ​inside and voted down his decree in the middle of the night.

Mr. Yoon was forced to withdraw it after six hours.​ But his power grab set off South Korea’s worst political crisis in decades, with its democracy undergoing a stress test as the country impeached the president, arrested those involved in his martial law, and elected a new leader, Lee Jae Myung.

​Prosecutors said that what Mr. Yoon and his collaborators did during the short period of martial law was an act of insurrection. In ​separate rulings in recent weeks, two ​other panels of judges at the Seoul Central District Court have agreed, sentencing the former prime minister and home minister to 23 years and seven years in prison, respectively, on charges of collaborating with Mr. Yoon.

Mr. Yoon accused prosecutors of “writing fiction” when they accused him of committing insurrection. His declaration, he said, was a legitimate use of presidential power to alert South Koreans to the danger posed by his enemies in the political left.

[Scooter]

U.K. Police Arrest Former Prince Andrew Over Epstein Ties, BBC Reports

The police in Britain arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, over suspicions of misconduct in public office following accusations that he shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy, according to the BBC.

Thames Valley Police said in a statement that it had “arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.”

The police did not name the suspect, as is normal under British law, but the details provided in the police report match what is known about the public misconduct allegations. The police were seen on Thursday morning at the Sandringham residence where Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor is currently living.

While Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Mr. Epstein, the convicted sex offender, have been known for years, and resulted in his being stripped of his royal titles last year, the investigation opens up a new chapter in his public fall from grace.

Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied wrongdoing.

In a statement released on Feb. 9, before the police investigation into the allegations was announced, Buckingham Palace said that if King Charles III or the palace were approached by the police “we stand ready to support them as you would expect.”

The statement added that Charles had “made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct.”

While Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor had already been accused of sexual offenses, a new tranche of documents released by the Department of Justice on Jan. 30 included a number of emails that suggested he may have shared confidential documents when working as a British trade envoy.

In one email, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor appears to forward to Mr. Epstein official reports about visits he made as envoy to South Asia in 2010, that were sent to him by his assistant.

Previously, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Mr. Epstein’s victims, said that the financier had trafficked her to Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor around 2001, when she was a teenager, and that he had sex with her multiple times.

Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied Ms. Giuffre’s accusations and has denied any wrongdoing in relation to his friendship with Mr. Epstein.

Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday morning.

In 2022, he paid Ms. Giuffre an undisclosed sum to settle a lawsuit in a New York court in which she said he had raped and sexually abused her when she was 17. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor did not admit to any of Ms. Giuffre’s accusations against him in the statement announcing the settlement.

The latest tranche of documents revealed his continuing communications with Mr. Epstein long after he had claimed to have severed ties with him.

After the latest release of files, Republic, a British anti-monarchy group, filed two reports with the Thames Valley Police accusing Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor of “suspected misconduct in public office and breach of official secrets.”

Graham Smith, Republic’s lead campaigner, said that the onus was on the police to act swiftly to investigate, as it had in the case of Peter Mandelson, a senior British politician with a long and close friendship with Mr. Epstein, the extent of which also came to light in the latest documents.

Mr. Mandelson, a senior figure within the Labour Party and the former British ambassador to the United States, is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police in London over accusations that he leaked confidential and market-sensitive information to Mr. Epstein while serving in government. Mr. Mandelson has previously denied any criminal wrongdoing.

The British government has agreed to release thousands of internal government documents relating to Mr. Mandelson’s vetting and appointment as ambassador. The political turmoil has undermined the premiership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who appointed Mr. Mandelson to the role of ambassador, and even led to calls for him to resign over the decision.

[BoSoxGal]

Huzzah!

[Big RR]

Can Charles pardon him and, if he can, will he? it's a low bar, but let's hope Charles is better than Trump.

[BoSoxGal]

The sovereign of England has powers of mercy yes, but they are rarely exercised. Notably they were exercised by the Queen to pardon Alan Turing posthumously in 2013.

I think Charles would be crazy to pardon his brother for giving state secrets to Epstein or other foreigners. He’s said in his statement that the law must run its course; hopefully that includes confinement after any conviction. Rapey Andy has lived a life of extreme luxury and used his privilege to exploit children and sell out his countrymen- some golden years spent in a cell reflecting on the error of his ways seems not too much to expect if he’s found guilty.

[Big RR]

Wouldn't bug me in the least, but then I don't have very much respect for the judgment of Charles (more than I do for the judgment of Trump, but that's such a low bar it's meaningless). Politicians (and I include Constitutional monarchs in this class) often have a tendency to pardon friends and family (if not to line their own pockets with pardons) using some BS pretext to justify their acts, but I would hope Charles could rise above this.

[Scooter]

Like almost all royal powers, the power of pardon would only be exercised on the advice of the King's ministers. I doubt that the government would be inclined to pardon Andrew on charges which were surely only brought with the knowledge and support at the highest levels.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Yes Charles has power of pardon - in fact all criminal cases in the UK are Rex vs A Name (for those of you who never did Latin, Rex = King and Regina = Queen) so he would be prosecuting his own brother. Although he has that power he would never use it: the monarchy is in enough trouble as it is without adding more fuel to the fire.

[BoSoxGal]

Yes Charles has power of pardon - in fact all criminal cases in the UK are Rex vs A Name (for those of you who never did Latin, Rex = King and Regina = Queen) so he would be prosecuting his own brother. Although he has that power he would never use it: the monarchy is in enough trouble as it is without adding more fuel to the fire.

Yes, according to the AI summary I just received to my query, support for the monarchy in the UK is at all-time lows among the younger generations who hold its fate in their hands. I’m sure Wills is very well aware of this reality, and that is why he has been advising his pops to give Randy Rapey Andy the boot in every kind of way since grandma kicked off.

Anti-monarchy sentiment is significantly higher among young UK adults, with 18-24 year olds now roughly as likely to support an elected head of state as they are to support the King. Polls indicate only 30%–37% of this age group supports the monarchy, while 40%–59% prefer an elected replacement, revealing a sharp divide with the 75%+ support among over-65s.

[Scooter]

[BoSoxGal]

Did you see the banner of Trump’s child rapey face that just got draped over the entrance of the DC headquarters of the Department of Just Us?

In fairness to US, the fox is currently guarding our henhouse which makes justice a bit harder to defend.

Meanwhile on the Facebook the last few weeks I’ve been responding to MAGA comments with polite requests that they let me know if they are child rapers too or do they just defend child rapers? After which I get crickets instead of the usual MAGA bluster and nastiness.

I think it’s possible the tide is turning with the red hat minions . . .

[Big RR]

es Charles has power of pardon - in fact all criminal cases in the UK are Rex vs A Name (for those of you who never did Latin, Rex = King and Regina = Queen) so he would be prosecuting his own brother. Although he has that power he would never use it: the monarchy is in enough trouble as it is without adding more fuel to the fire.

Well time will tell, and I rarely trust those in power, especially those who who possess the power to act autocratically, to do the right thing. Sometimes they do, but mostly they just act in their own self interest and invent some sort of excuse as to why they are "forced" to act that way. Trump demonstrat3es this quite well, but it's a rare politician in the US that doesn't do this. Indeed, i think that's why we should avoid giving any individual too much (or even a lot of) power.

[Crackpot]

What are the chances of Andrew spilling the beans?

[Burning Petard]

State of the Union address next Tuesday evening. Is this where we will hear that the United States of America is at war with Iran, even though Congress, which is the body (not the 'unitary executive" ) that has the duty of sending the nation to war. Last Tuesday we observed 'Presidents Day' even though it is still officially only George Washington's Birthday celebration. I note lots of attention to ANTIFA and Communists as a clear and present danger to the American Way of Life. Yet our elected leader seems to emulate Putin or Kim Jong Un and not George Washington, even in attire. WaPo recently did an article on the ubiquity of George Washington style for men's clothing. Blue and buff were Washington's chosen colors and are the colors of the Delaware state flag. I have never seen a pic of Trump in a blue blazer and kakis.

snailgate.