Reaction to former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) acquittal in a bribery trial appeared to fall along political lines yesterday, with the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) mayoral candidates urging voters to show their discontent with the ruling with their ballots on Nov. 27, while their Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponents played down the case.
The Taipei District Court on Friday acquitted Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), of charges that they laundered money and took bribes from bankers in exchange for help facilitating bank mergers. Nineteen co-defendants were also cleared of charges of money laundering, breach of trust and insider trading because of a lack of proof, according to Judge Chou Chan-chun’s (周占春) ruling.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said he “respected the ruling in his capacity as president of the Executive Yuan,” but added that he was “afraid that there were more people who found the verdict unconvincing and unacceptable than those who respected the judges’ opinions.”
PHOTO: CNA
The court contended that there was no “considerable relationship” (direct connection) between the money the financial holding companies gave Chen and his position as president of the country.
Even if the former president did interfere in the bank mergers by arranging a meeting with or calling on then-minister of finance Lee Yung-san (李庸三) to voice “his support for” the mergers by Cathay Financial Holdings Co (國泰金控) and Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) respectively, this would only mean that Chen had overstepped his authority.
The ruling said that Chen making the telephone calls had nothing to do with the execution of his presidential power. Therefore, the alleged bribe taking by a public servant was found to not have happened in Chen’s case, it stated.
Since the money involved in the case had been identified as “not being the incomes from major crimes,” there would be no such charge as money laundering, according to the ruling.
Asked to comment on the verdict, which said Chen did not have discretion to intervene in the merger of financial institutions just as President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) did not have the discretion to address issues such as airport baggage carts and the difficulty of buying train tickets, Wu said he “respected the metaphor.”
The premier said that the judges, by drawing the parallel, “made noticeable Ma’s characteristics that he has integrity and that he cares about people’s suffering and thus wishes the Executive Yuan to improve the problems so that the government can better serve the people.”
Other than that, Wu said there was no comparison between Chen and Ma.
The biggest difference was that Ma cared about the needs of the people and did not profit from attending to these issues, whereas Chen took several billions of NT dollars and used his influence to enable small financial firms to acquire large state-owned ones, Wu said.
While Chen’s office hailed the ruling as “belated justice” and urged the court to immediately release Chen, who has been detained since Dec. 30, 2008, the prosecutors in charge of the case criticized the court’s verdict.
Spokesman of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達) said the judges of the collegial panel in the case held a different understanding of the president’s authority from the practical understanding held by the judiciary.
The judges have “excessively narrowed” the definition of the authority of the president stipulated in the Constitution, Chen Hung-ta said, adding that such a definition could mean that whoever is the president can do whatever he or she wants as long as it is not in the scope of his or her official authority.
The collegial panel at the Taipei District Court urged the public not to wage a war of words or plunge into quarrels because of the ruling. Lin Po-hung (林柏泓), one of the three judges on the panel, stressed that it reached its verdict based on legal precedents rather than political consideration.
Lin said he hoped the public would read carefully the reasons of the ruling so that they could understand the panel’s thoughts and decision in the case.
Unconvinced, some members of the pan-blue camp criticized the ruling, accusing the judges of using every possible means to “rationalize” the former president and his wife’s conduct of taking money from big enterprises, including labeling the money Chen Shui-bian and his wife took from Cathay and Yuanta as either “political donations” or “a payment to ‘acquire the knowledge of the government’s attitude’” in the bank mergers.
If the reasons the court used to find the couple innocent of bribery charges are subsequently upheld, any public servant could take bribes as long as they are not exercising their legal authority, they argued.
KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday said the KMT respected the ruling, but added that the prosecutors’ decision to appeal the case will help reveal more truth.
KMT mayoral candidate for what will become Sinbei City Eric Chu (朱立倫) also said he respected the verdict, but added he believed that many people disagreed with the ruling.
“I believe that many have a different opinion. These people should come out and vote,” he said. “If you don’t vote, you will regret it the next day.”
Meanwhile, KMT mayoral candidate for the area that will become Greater Kaohsiung Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) said she will start a signature drive to oppose the result.
“The ruling, which suggested that people who took money illegally will not be punished, is not acceptable to most people. A signature drive will be launched to push for a revolution in the judicial system,” she said on the sideline of a campaign event yesterday.
DPP politicians appeared more low-key on the issue.
In response to press queries, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is also running as the party’s Sinbei mayoral candidate, said that she believed Chen being found not guilty would not have a negative impact on her chances in the election later this month.
DPP Taipei City mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who is running for re-election against Huang, would not comment on any possible impact of the ruling on their campaigns.
DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said voters are more concerned about who is capable of leading the municipalities than other matters.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH AND RICH CHANG
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