AP, Seoul :A South Korean ferry captain was sentenced Tuesday to 36 years in prison for negligence and abandoning passengers when his ship sank earlier this year, but the court acquitted him of homicide, concluding there was no proof he knew his actions would cause the more than 300 deaths that shocked and outraged the country.The highly anticipated verdict came on the same day searches were called off for the final nine victims and amid 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 other crew members as too lenient, some weeping and shouting during the court proceedings.”Do you know how many children are dead?” one relative said, according to a defense lawyer.The Gwangju District Court in southern South Korea also concluded in its ruling that Lee had issued an evacuation order and that he left the ship after rescue boats arrived on the scene, the court’s statement said.
