Ma acquitted again
The acquittal of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has happened so many times that it is no longer news; it is boring to the mind and the heart of most Taiwanese.
On the other extreme, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was recently blocked from attending the opening ceremony of the Taipei Universiade.
This is not news either, since Chen has been restricted from appearing at public events by the Taichung Prison on so many occasions.
It is often said that courts are operated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and that the pan-green camp is being punished while the pan-blue camp is not.
The main difference between Chen and Ma is that Chen is “a son of Taiwan” or a pan-green figure, while Ma is a typical pan-blue politician.
Ma had a scapegoat when he was mayor of Taipei. He declared his candidacy for president “to prove his cleanness.”
Now Ma proudly claims that he is clean and can stand up to any examination. Apparently, judges have clearly received Ma’s message.
Too bad that Chen does not have the privileges Ma enjoys.
A supplemental school teacher [allegedly] seduced one of his students, who then authored a book about her agony and committed suicide.
The teacher was recently acquitted, just like Ma. The judges might have misinterpreted the student’s Stockholm syndrome as collaboration. If she were depressed, how could she write such a vivid and logical book?
If Taiwan’s judicial system had juries — instead of only judges — to reach verdicts, Ma, Chen, the teacher and the student might have met different fates.
And Taiwanese would greatly boost their approval ratings for the nation’s judicial system.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
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