A prosecutor’s tears during the last day of the corruption trial of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) at Taipei District Court on Tuesday has been the subject of discussion among analysts, the media and the public.
Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) scheduled Tuesday for Chen’s last court appearance before the verdict is announced on Sept. 11.
Thanks to four-hour-long speeches from both the prosecution and the defense, Tuesday’s marathon hearing ran from 9:30am to well past midnight, with no recess for dinner.
Most reporters covering Chen’s trial expected the day’s highlights to come from Chen. He had remained silent for months to protest what he calls an unfair judicial system, but had prepared a long speech to “report to the people” for the final hearing.
However, the talking points arrived sooner than expected, when Lin Chin-kang (林勤綱), chief prosecutor at the district court, cried for more than an hour while making his closing arguments.
He began by looking directly at the former president and saying that he wanted to have a “heart-to-heart talk” with him.
He described Chen as a revolutionary who had “lost his ideals along the way” because he gave in to greed. He said Chen entered public life in order to change it, but instead, had seen his spirit killed.
“That which kills the spirit is more feared than what kills the body,” he said.
Lin used the title of Chen’s book, Taiwan’s Cross, to ask for Chen’s forgiveness. Lin said he must convict Chen “in order to reflect the glory of the good values you [Chen] used your life to instill.”
Despite pouring out his heart, at several moments during his closing argument, Lin suddenly stopped crying to calmly give instructions to the court stenographer about where to put commas or when to move the cursor to the next line.
The ease with which he switched between moods evoked muffled giggles from reporters listening to the proceedings.
However, if the judges were amused, they did not show it. Tsai maintained a stern expression, with his eyebrows furrowed and lips tightly pressed into a thin line most of the time.
When Lin was already an hour into his tearful speech and began to talk about the history of the cross, Tsai interrupted him to tell him not to stray off topic.
A senior court reporter who has been friends with Lin for a long time said he had never seen Lin cry in court before, but could understand why he would be so emotional.
“They [Lin and Chen] both fought for Taiwan’s democracy movement many years ago, so now Lin is asking, how can you [Chen] have done this when we have come so far?” the reporter said.
Lin and Chen go way back. They attended law school together at National Taiwan University. They were both activists pushing for the country’s democratic reform and both served as defense attorneys for those involved in the Kaohsiung Incident, a defining moment in the democracy movement’s battle against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) authoritarian regime.
Lin’s tears received widespread coverage and became the main topic on many political talk shows yesterday.
While some said such excessive displays of emotion were unfit for a courtroom, others sympathized with Lin.
On one talk show, former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) said he felt moved by Lin’s words to the former president.
“You don’t see other supporters of the former president shedding tears for him,” he said, adding that he could understand Lin’s distress as he was prosecuting a former comrade.
However, avid readers of news on the online discussion forum PTT were not so sensitive to Lin’s feelings. Hundreds gave him a “thumbs down” for his courtroom theatrics and said Lin should give up law and become an actor.
Lin’s performance received so much attention that it eclipsed the closing arguments made by another district prosecutor, Lin Yi-chun (林怡君), whose speech was also filled with emotion.
Contrary to Lin Chin-kang’s soft tones, Lin Yi-chun used harsh analogies and spoke with strong conviction.
She buttressed her arguments with PowerPoint slides filled with color photographs of a handcuffed Chen and his family members, as well as media coverage and depictions of the former first family’s cash flows to illustrate the prosecution’s allegations.
Her arguments centered on the former first family’s thirst for money, saying: “Root of all evil, your name is greed.”
She described the former president as the head of a mafia organization and even quoted an ancient Chinese emperor in scolding him.
“The prosecution’s theatrical displays are sure to capture the attention of the press, but they have neglected the prosecution’s responsibility in making convincing closing arguments,” wrote Wu Jing-jin (吳景欽), an assistant professor at Aletheia University’s department of economic and financial law, in an op-ed piece in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
Wu criticized Lin Yi-chun’s extensive use of media reports, saying they undermined the prosecution’s case because it was supposed to base its allegations on evidence, not rumors.
In stark contrast to the prosecution’s emotional speeches, the court-appointed defence attorneys stuck to black ink on white paper and the criminal code.
Although they failed to capture much attention from the media, the defence attorneys’ work received commendations from both the prosecutors and the former president.
However the people view the dramas of the district court, one thing is for certain — the next big show can be expected on Sept. 11.
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