A court in South Korea has sentenced the country’s former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to five years in jail after finding him guilty on charges stemming from his declaration of martial law in December 2024.

Yoon was found guilty on Friday of charges that include obstructing authorities from executing an arrest warrant related to his martial law declaration, as well as fabricating official documents and failing to comply with the legal process required to impose martial law.

At Seoul’s Central District Court on Friday, Judge Baek Dae-hyun said Yoon had failed to uphold the Constitution and rule of law.

“Despite having a duty, above all others, to uphold the Constitution and observe the rule of law as president, the defendant instead displayed an attitude that disregarded the … Constitution,” Baek said.

“The defendant’s culpability is extremely grave,” he said.

Yoon now has seven days to appeal the verdict, the judge added.

Speaking outside the court immediately after the ruling, one of Yoon’s lawyers, Yoo Jung-hwa, said the former president would appeal the verdict.

“We express regret that the decision was made in a politicised manner,” she said.

The court’s ruling is the first related to a range of criminal charges Yoon faces over his botched attempt to impose martial law, which lasted only about six hours but sent shockwaves through South Korean society, which was long considered one of the world’s most stable democracies.

Al Jazeera’s Jack Barton, reporting from South Korea’s capital Seoul, said Yoon’s supporters had gathered outside the court on Friday and were chanting to express their unhappiness with the verdict.

“It’s not a good sign,” Barton said, explaining that the ex-president still faces the most serious charge of insurrection, which carries a death sentence.

“These charges are not really related to the main event. That is the insurrection trial that is still ongoing,” he said.

“So, guilty on all of those charges and, again, this feeds into that main trial [for insurrection]. We are expecting that verdict in February,” he added.

Yoon was previously impeached, arrested and then dismissed as president after his short-lived martial law attempt, which triggered huge public protests calling for his removal.

But Yoon has remained defiant and has insisted he broke no laws.

He has argued in court that it was within his powers as president to declare martial law and that the action was aimed at sounding the alarm over the obstruction of government work by opposition parties.

South Korea’s official Yonhap News Agency reported on Friday that the five-year sentence handed to Yoon was half of what had been requested by Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team of lawyers.

Yonhap also said the guilty ruling is likely to have implications for the verdict in Yoon’s insurrection trial, which is due next month.

Special prosecutors in the insurrection case earlier this week demanded the death penalty for Yoon, Yonhap said.

[Aljazeera]

West Indies kickstarted their campaign at the 2026 Men’s U19 World Cup with a drubbing of Tanzania for the first result of the tournament in Windhock.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl, but had to wait till the 14th over for the first breakthrough. Tanzania openers Dylan Thakrar (26) and Darpan Jobanputra (19) put on a 53-run opening stand to frustrate West Indies’ new-ball bowlers before medium pacer Jonathan Van Lange broke the stand.

Seamer Shaquqn Belle, who took the catch to break the first-wicket stand, then dismissed Thakrar in the 15th over, ran No. 3 Ayaan Shariff out in the 16th, and got Augustino Mwamele in the 19th. The three wickets in three overs opened up Tanzania’s batting, and a procession of wickets followed. Left-arm wristspinner Vitel Lawes ran through the lower-middle order for a three-wicket haul, and Tanzania folded for 122 in the 34th over.

In the chase, Tanzania’s seamer Mwamele got an early breakthrough to remove West Indies opener Zachary Carter in the fourth over. But an 80-run second-wicket partnership between Tanez Francis (52) and Jewel Andrew (44) eased the chase.

Although West Indies lost four wickets between the 17th and 20th overs for a brief stutter, the low target meant they eventually cruised to their first win in Group D with 29 overs to spare.

Brief scores:
West Indies U-19s 124 for 5 in 21 overs (Tanez Francis 52, Jewel Andrew 44; Augustino Mwamele 2-17, Raymond Francis 2-23) beat Tanzania U-19s 122 in 34 overs (Dylan Thakrar 26; Vitel Lawes 3-23, Micah McKenzie 2-15, Shaquan Belle 2-23) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]