Lawmakers and judicial officials yesterday responded to charges made by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has accused prosecutors of leaking information related to an ongoing case in which he is involved, saying that Ma is trying to interfere with the judicial process and shift the public’s focus away from an investigation into financial irregularities in the sales of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) assets.
“If prosecutors have evidence of wrongdoing, they should summon Ma for questioning and detain him,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said.
“This key recording was recovered from digital files that were deleted, leading to suspicions of tampering and destruction of evidence,” he said, referring to media reports of prosecutors obtaining a recording that allegedly implicates Ma in financial irregularities arising from the sale of KMT-controlled media companies and other assets more than a decade ago.
Photo: CNA
“The evidence reportedly shows that Ma not only knew about the KMT asset sales, but that he was the one who approved them,” Wang said. “If so, Ma should be immediately detained, in line with the treatment received by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).”
Ma drew significant media attention on Wednesday, when he and his lawyers filed a complaint at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office naming Chief Prosecutor Shing Tai-chao (邢泰釗) and head prosecutor Wang Hsin-chien (王鑫健) as those responsible for leaks at the office.
Ma then applied with the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office for the case to be transferred to another jurisdiction, citing the leaks as proof that he would not be treated fairly by the current prosecution team.
At a news conference yesterday, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office requested that people not engage in speculation, saying that leaks reported by the media have not been verified and are unrelated to prosecutors.
“We urge Ma not to make emotional statements or manipulate public sentiment, which could be an attempt to shift the focus away from the case and interfere with the investigation,” Deputy Chief Prosecutor Chou Shih-yu (周士榆) said.
“Our office has always maintained the confidentiality of cases under investigation. Much of the content of media reports of leaks do not correlate with factual information,” Chou said. “Prosecutors strictly adhere to the legal process, and their work is not based on any political considerations.”
As a number of defendants, witnesses and lawyers are involved in the investigation, it would be difficult to determine who allegedly provided information to the media for their own purposes, he said.
While attending a forum on education in Taipei yesterday, Ma refused to comment when asked by the media about the purported recording, in which he reportedly instructed that then-China Times Group chairman Albert Yu (余建新) be given a NT$480 million (US$16 million at the current exchange rate) “concession” in the KMT’s sale of China Television Co (CTV 中視) in 2005.
King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), a close associate and top aide of Ma who was also at the forum, said: “That was not true at all.”
Separately, New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) was critical of Ma, saying that he treated the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office like “a buffet meal,” taking dishes to eat as desired.
Hsu said Ma interfered with the judiciary when he applied pressure on the Special Investigation Division by saying that “These prosecutors will be dismissed if they do not produce a result” during investigations of Chen over alleged financial irregularities.
‘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
RSS