Legislators and representatives of civic groups yesterday berated the judiciary for what they said was six years of inaction over a corruption case involving Taitung County Commissioner Huang Chien-ting (黃健庭).
Huang was charged with corruption in 2008, when he was a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator.
He allegedly received bribes and kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies for helping secure drug supply contracts for public hospitals and clinics in Taitung County. Six years on, the remains in the preliminary stages in court, and Huang is running for re-election as county commissioner.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Taiwan Society president Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) told a news conference in Taipei that there were very unusual and suspicious circumstances surrounding Huang’s case, since the judiciary has not moved against him.
“It is a miscarriage of justice, because the judiciary appears to be showing favoritism to Huang, a KMT member,” Chang said.
“Who is manipulating our judiciary system behind the scenes?” Chang said, adding that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), a long-time top aide to Ma, might be responsible.
“Ma and King have the power to manipulate the judiciary. They have interfered to protect their political ally, Huang. It is very worrying to see such abuse of political power,” Chang said.
“How can people trust the judicial system? People see it becoming an instrument to protect KMT politicians and officials. By stalling legal proceeding, people affiliated with the KMT can escape prosecution and can get away with their pervasive corruption and profiteering actions,” he said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said the initial stage of most cases is wrapped up in 16 months.
“Why is this corruption case against Huang now in its sixth year? Why has there been no progress? Wu said.
Huang served out his term as legislator, was able to win election as Taitung County commissioner and is now running for a second term, which means “all Taitung residents could be losers in this affair because they might be voting for someone who could be found guilty of corruption,” Wu said.
DPP Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) criticized the judicial system for meting out different treatment based on political party affiliations.
“We keep on seeing the judiciary taking a delayed approach or no action when dealing with cases involving KMT and pan-blue camp people. However, the judiciary always moves swiftly in cases involving the DPP and the pan-green camp,” Wu said.
“The judicial system is showing its double standards and favoritism in this case. It has taken no action, no legal proceedings against Huang, although there is enough evidence against him. The judiciary is treating people of Taitung as fools,” she said.
Wu said it was obvious there has been a political pressure on judges against moving on this case.
“We see the KMT leaders subverting and destroying Taiwan’s judicial system. How long can the judiciary remain a tool of the KMT? The public will no longer have faith in the fairness and equality of our justice system,” she said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS