A South Korean appeals court on Monday set Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee free after nearly a year of detention, suspending his five-year jail term after he was convicted of bribing the country's former president.

A lower court had jailed Lee for corruption in a political scandal that roiled the country and led to the ouster of President Park Geun-hye. He appealed against the verdict and sentence.

Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world's biggest corporate empires, has been detained since February 2017.