The Ministry of Justice has signed an agreement with the Swiss Federal Office of Justice to ensure its cooperation regarding the investigation of Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), who is wanted for his alleged role in the Lafayette frigate scandal, Vice Minister Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said yesterday.
"The agreement, proposed by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice and written only in English, was signed by Minister Chen Ding-nan (
According to Hsieh, the first of the three promises states that Wang will not be subject to the death penalty. The second states that Wang will be assigned defense counsel if a trial is held in Taiwan and will have the right to appeal. The third promise states that Wang shall be regarded as innocent until convicted.
Hsieh, speaking on behalf of Chen, made the remarks at a press conference yesterday. Chen was on his way to an annual prosecutor-generals' meeting in California.
The vice minister said the details of the agreement will not be made public.
Taiwanese justice officials had been seeking cooperation with Switzerland, asking last December that Wang's bank account in that country be frozen.
Swiss Judge Paul Berraudin decided to freeze US$600 million in an account operated by Wang, who is wanted by the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office. The warrant for Wang is good for the next 20 years.
Swiss justice officials granted access to their Taiwanese counterparts in a bid to help the investigation after laying down the three conditions.
There is little the ministry can do to keep the promises, however. The ministry is in charge of investigation and indictment but not trials. While the ministry has promised that prosecutors will not suggest death penalty for Wang, it is not up to the ministry to decide whether Wang will be executed.
Hsieh did not address the issue at the press conference yesterday.
Wang is suspected of involvement in the murder of navy captain Yin Ching-feng (
Yin was the head of the navy's Arms Acquisition Office. His body was found floating in the sea off the east coast of Taiwan on Dec. 9, 1993. His death prompted an investigation into irregularities surrounding the purchase of Lafayette-class frigates from France. Investigators believe the deal included more than US$500 million in illegal commissions.
Investigators discovered that Yin was trying to collect evidence to protect himself once the scandal surfaced and that he might have been killed by the main beneficiaries of the kickbacks.
Wang has been on the run since September 2000. He is suspected of having received a share of the illegal proceeds for playing an instrumental role in securing a deal for Thomson CSF, a French company now called Thales, to build six Lafayette-class frigates for Taiwan.
According to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, requests to freeze all bank accounts that may be connected to the scandal were made by both the Taiwanese and French law enforcement authorities on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2001.
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