Disgraced scientist Hwang appeals suspended jail term

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- Disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk appealed
Monday a court ruling that slapped him with a suspended jail sentence for
embezzling research funds, a Seoul court said.
The Seoul Central District Court said that a Seoul-based law firm defending the
56-year-old scientist filed the appeal Monday, the deadline for entering an
appeal. The prosecution also appealed the ruling, the court added.
On Wednesday, the court sentenced Hwang to a two-year prison term with a stay of
execution for three years for breaching bioethics laws in purchasing human eggs
and embezzling a combined 835 million won (US$705,200) he obtained based on a
fake stem cell experiment.
The prosecution had demanded fours years in prison for the scientist.
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.
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 scientist claimed that he had cloned a human embryo and extracted stem cells
from it, raising 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.
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