(LEAD) Disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk sentenced to suspended jail term

(ATTN: ADDS details in paras 7-9, UPDATES with prosecutors' decision to appeal in
para 6, minor edits)
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- Disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk was
sentenced to a suspended jail term Monday for embezzling research funds he
obtained based on a fake stem cell experiment and breaching bioethics laws in
purchasing human eggs.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Hwang, 56, to a two year prison term,
suspended for three years.
The prosecution had demanded a four-year imprisonment.
"The nature of Hwang's crimes is grave, given that he violated laws to use human
eggs and misappropriated a combined 830 million won (US$704,000) by issuing fake
tax bills and did not return the money," the court said.
The court, however, found Hwang not guilty on fraud charges that he faked and
inflated his research results to obtain 2 billion won in research funds from two
local companies, saying there was no causal relationship between the faked
research and the financial support.
The prosecution said it will appeal the not guilty ruling on the fraud charges.
The court also said that Hwang, a former veterinary professor at Seoul National
University, had intentionally instructed his assistants to falsify research data
published in 2004 and 2005.
The prosecution is to blame for not being able to convict Hwang for fabricating
the research work, which constitutes obstruction of duty, because it had not
entered the charges, the court said.
Prosecutors had argued at the time that the judgment on Hwang's professional work
was up to the academic community, not the court.
Hwang, who had gained fame after claiming success in cloning human embryonic stem
cells, was indicted in 2006 for misappropriating research funds and illegally
purchasing human eggs.
The 56-year-old scientist had claimed that he cloned a human embryo and extracted
stem cells from it. His research had raised expectations that individually
tailored cells and organs could be created for terminally ill patients.
Later he was found to have faked the results of the experiment and has since
undergone more than 40 court hearings over three years.
brk@yna.co.kr
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