South Korea’s impeached president denied all charges and pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in her first court appearance at Seoul Central District Court [official website]. Former conservative party leader Park Guen-hye [BBC profile] was indicted [NYT report] on 18 charges including accepting $52 million in bribes from large corporations such as Samsung [official website]. The scandal [Guardian report] has led to the indictments of former business leaders, former cabinet ministers and senior presidential aides. Park has been living in a solitary cell since her arrest on March 31. Two preliminary hearings were already held in front of a three-judge panel without Park’s presence. Park faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery. Her liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in, has the power to pardon her sentence. The next day of hearings is scheduled for Thursday.

This is the latest development in a scandal that has grown to encompass numerous South Korean political and corporate leaders. Park was indicted [JURIST] in April along with Shin Dong-bin [Forbes profile], chairman of the Lotte Group [official website], on similar bribery charges. Earlier in April South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld [JURIST report] parliament’s decision to impeach Park over a scandal related to government bribes paid by Samsung. South Korean lawmakers voted 234-56 to impeach [JURIST report] Park in December. In February Samsung’s would-be head Lee was arrested [JURIST report] on charges of bribery and undue influence in connection with the scandal. Five Samsung executives denied the charges [JURIST report] of bribery, embezzlement and corruption that were leveled against them in connection with Park. Two weeks ago the Seoul Central District Court said that it reassigned Lee’s bribery case [JURIST report] to a new judge, after reports surfaced the same week concerning the previous judge’s connection to a woman Lee is accused of bribing. In February South Korea’s special prosecutor indicted [JURIST report] former culture minister Yoon-sun Cho [official profile] and former presidential chief of staff Ki-choon Kim on charges of coercion, abuse of power and perjury connected to creation of a blacklist of opposition artists critical to Park. Park was arrested [JURIST report] on charges of bribery, coercion, abuse of power, and leaking government secrets on March 31.