Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday accused prosecutors of harming the image of the country’s judicial system through inappropriate methods in questioning defendants during his pre-trial hearing.
The court spent more than three hours yesterday verifying the recordings of questioning of former chief of the Hsinchu Science Park James Lee (李界木). Lee is charged with taking bribes for purchasing a plot of land in Taoyuan County from Dayu Development Corp — a subsidiary of the Koo Group — at a price prosecutors claim was unreasonably high.
In the recording, prosecutors grilled Lee about who had given him directions to purchase the plot of land in Longtan (龍潭), which was owned by Taiwan Cement Group (台泥) chairman Leslie Koo (辜成允).
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Prosecutors said Lee had broken laws relating to government officials supervising government purchases and said that if Lee did not tell prosecutors who had instructed him to make the purchasing decisions, prosecutors would seek heavier punishment.
At one point, Special Investigation Panel (SIP) prosecutor Lee Hai-lung (李海龍) was heard saying: “We’ll let you talk with your lawyer in private for a while. If [what you say] is in a written deposition, you’ll have an ugly death.”
The recording then showed Lee talking with his lawyer for several minutes in the absence of prosecutors.
Chen’s lawyer, Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), objected to having the content of their conversation documented in the written deposition.
“What transpires between a defendant and his lawyer should be kept private and should not be included in a written deposition,” he said.
Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) rejected the request, saying: “The part of the recording played [in court] was within the range of what the defendant requested to examine. Any objections should be brought up by James Lee, not the defendant’s [Chen’s] lawyer.”
After reviewing the recording, Tsai asked whether Chen had any comment, after which the former president and his lawyers gave a two-hour long answer.
“During the 90 minutes of questioning … 90 percent of the recording consisted of SIP prosecutors talking. Defendant James Lee only talked for about 10 percent of the entire questioning,” Chen said.
Chen said Lee was interrupted by prosecutors on 32 occasions, which he said was a violation of Article 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法).
“In an examination, the accused shall be given an opportunity to explain the offense of which he is suspected,” it says.
Chen also cited several instances of prosecutors using threats and inducement throughout the questioning.
“This seriously harms Taiwan’s judicial image,” he said. “It’s Taiwan’s judicial reform going backwards.”
He denied instructing Lee to sign any contract with Koo.
The hearing was continuing at press time.
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