Prosecutors deny threat rumor over Kaohsiung scandal

Kaohsiung prosecutors yesterday denied a rumor that they had been threatened by gangsters over the arrest of Kaohsiung City Council vice speaker Tsai Sung-hsiung (蔡松雄) but that they were ready to deal with any such threats.

"Up to this minute, the rumor remains just a rumor because we have not been threatened at all. But we've also heard about it and are all geared up to face any form of challenge," said Chou Chang-chin (周章欽), a spokesman for the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office.

"I must say again, we will not release Tsai or stop investigating him because of any threats," he said.

After an overnight interrogation, Kaohsiung Prosecutor Hsiao Yu-cheng (蕭宇誠) on Wednesday filed a request, which was immediately granted, to detain Tsai for his involvement in the vote-buying scandal in the city council speakership election.

The 57-year-old independent vice speaker was charged with bribery for helping council speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄) buy votes for NT$5 million each from five PFP councilors.

Rumors began to circulate among Kaohsiung-based reporters on Thursday that local gangsters would attack prosecutors to avenge Tsai's detention.

Prosecutors suspect the rumor is based on Tsai's alleged connections with the local mafia.

He was a member of "Chi-hsien" (七賢幫), a local gang, nearly 30 years ago and in 1984 was interned on Green Island for nearly seven years.

He had been targeted by the KMT government and recognized as a gangster during the "Yi-ching Program" (一清專案).

The "Yi-ching Program" was an anti-gangster campaign carried out under the martial law era. People who were recognized as gangsters could be arrested immediately without charge and jailed without trial.

Chou, himself a former prosecutor, headed the investigation into the late KMT Kaohsiung County Council speaker Wu Ho-sung's (吳鶴松) alleged involvement in a bribery scandal during the speakership election in 1994. During the investigation, he was threatened by local gangsters.

"I was threatened once, so I will know what to do if it happens again," he said. "But any form of threats will not change my faith, which is to keep the criminals away."

Wu was acquitted on the bribery charge but shot dead by gangster Huang Wen-chung (黃文忠) shortly afterwards on Nov. 15, 1995.