Pro-localization groups yesterday accused prosecutors of not taking the necessary steps to prosecute former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for his suspected role in the Taipei Dome project and a classified information leak, demanding that they take action immediately.
A coalition of groups, including Taiwan Forever Association, Northern Taiwan Society and Taiwan Association of University Professors, held a news conference in front of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office building, accusing the agency and the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office of ignoring three criminal lawsuits the groups have filed against Ma.
Lawyer Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said that Ma, when serving as Taipei mayor, was suspected of helping Farglory Group (遠雄集團), the contractor for the Taipei Dome, secure profits by agreeing to waive royalty fees for land use.
Photo: CNA
“The royalty waiver was allegedly negotiated under the table between Ma and [Farglory founder] Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄), which could be proved with negotiation recordings provided by [former Taipei finance commissioner] Lee Sush-der (李述德). Such incriminating evidence is rarely found in corruption cases, but prosecutors ignored the evidence and failed to launch an investigation,” lawyer Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍) said.
Another lawsuit focuses on Ma’s role in a classified information leak in 2013, which involved wiretapping of telephone conversations of former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
Former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) leaked details of the conversation to Ma, which led to Huang Shih-ming’s conviction last year, but prosecutors did not investigate Ma’s alleged role in instigating Huang Shih-ming to leak the information.
Ma was also implicated in a lawsuit that accused him of unexplained increases in personal wealth during his time as president.
The SID, which received the Taipei Dome lawsuit, transferred the case to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, but the office did not launch investigations into the cases, the groups said.
“We are here to issue a formal condemnation of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, whose failure to launch an investigation has significantly harmed the public’s trust in the judiciary. Such an apparent attempt to protect Ma from prosecution is the reason more than 80 percent of the public do not trust prosecutors,” Huang Di-ying said.
“Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san [邱太三] should toughen up rather than allowing Ma to travel to Hong Kong, which I believe is an attempt to test the possibility of absconding,” Cheng said.
A travel restriction should be imposed on Ma, who is planning to visit Hong Kong on Wednesday next week, they said.
Youth Against Oppression in Taiwan deputy secretary-general Lin Chia-yu (林家宇) said the SID becomes a “no investigation division” when it comes to accusations involving Ma, compared with its handling of cases involving former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and Agency Against Corruption are investigating the cases.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and