A former President of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, has been sentenced to 24 years in prison.
The verdict was given on Friday, having been found guilty of abuse of power and coercion.
The verdict was broadcast live.
In the judgement, Ms Geun-hye was also fined 18 billion Korean won for her corrupt practices.
The money is about 17 million in U.S. dollars.
Ms Geun-hye, was however not in court for the verdict.
She was first arrested in March 2017 and had refused to attend trial since October on health ground.
She insisted that she did not commit any offence, but was only being victimised by the government for political reasons.
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Among the allegations against her was that she colluded with her close friend, Choi Soon-sil, to shakedown business executives in South Korea in return for political favours.
Her friend has since been sentenced to prison in February last year.
Ms Geun-hye was removed from office following weeks of protests across the country in March 2017.
She was subsequently arrested and placed on trial.
Prosecutors got her convicted on 18 counts of bribery and coercion.
Her supporters are still taking to the streets in Seoul, the country’s capital, demanding her release, saying her trial was political.
