Lawyers representing former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) appealed to the High Court for a retrial of the Longtan case on the grounds that Tsai Ming-che (蔡銘哲) was a “tainted witness” after admitting withholding information from his testimony.
Chen is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence on charges of corruption.
According to the third ruling on the Longtan case, Taiwan Cement Corp chairman Leslie Koo (辜成允) had given NT$300 million (US$10 million) to former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) as a bribe. In return the Hsinchu Science Park would buy the company’s land in Longtan (龍潭), Taoyuan County. Chen and Wu were both sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.
As the Longtan case was the heaviest sentence Chen received to date, his lawyers were anxious to use the chance to decrease the length of the sentence of the Longtan ruling as other cases Chen was involved in are still under trial.
Chen is also indicted in the second financial reform case, the president’s special state affairs funds, the fake testimony case and the violation of Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保法) case.
Chen’s lawyers Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), Hung Kuei-tsan (洪貴參) and Shih Yi-lin (石宜琳) alleged that Special Investigation Division (SID) prosecutors’ 2008 secret visit to Japan was made to offer Chinatrust Charity Foundation chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) immunity from prosecution in exchange for Jeffrey Koo Jr’s testimony in Chen’s case.
Alleging that the SID prosecutors had told Jeffrey Koo Jr what to say, the attorneys added that Tsai’s admission that he had withheld information in this 2001 testimony gave legal grounds for an appeal or retrial.
The admission was enough to disqualify all of Tsai’s statements made in the Longtan case making him a “tainted witness,” Cheng said.
Cheng pointed out that former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng’s (馬永成) concluded that Chen knew about the case “through his own conjecture” and there was a lack of facts supporting that supposition.
There was an error on the court’s side in recognition of facts, Cheng said.
Shih also said that though there was no time limit to appeal for a retrial, it was not until Chen’s recent hospitalization that lawyers had the chance to discuss the case with him.
Chen was recently hospitalized in Taipei Veterans General Hospital after a comprehensive checkup showed that he suffers from chronic severe depression and an anxiety disorder.
“We were hesitant about making the appeal for fear that the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration would interfere, but we felt that we had to publicize these acts of injustice,” Cheng said.
The law states that it is possible for the defendant to make an extraordinary appeal if the court’s ruling goes against the law after the ruling is made, after which the defendant may ask for a retrial after the court acknowledges there is a discrepancy in facts.
Cheng said that the defendants would be appealing for a retrial first because “there wouldn’t be any possibility” that a extraordinary appeal would be passed as the prosecution would bow to politics under the leadership of Prosecutor General Huang Shyh-ming (黃世銘).
In related developments, the High Court yesterday added one year to Chen’s jail sentences, bringing the duration of his incarceration to 18-and-a-half years for his involvement in the Longtan case and the bribery case involving former Taipei 101 chief executive Diana Chen (陳敏薰).
In its ruling, the High Court said that in additon to serving 18-and-a-half years in jail, he would also have to pay a cumulative fine of NT$156 million, which can be commuted to community service.
Additional reporting by Jake Chung and CNA
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS