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Hsieh refuses to confirm deal over frigate scandal

Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday would not confirm an Associated Press story which said he had promised Swiss authorities that a former arms dealer wanted by Taiwanese authorities would not face the death penalty.

Hsieh made the guarantees in exchange for Swiss cooperation in handing over documents related to the case, the report said.

"What I say now could potentially impact an ongoing judicial investigation," Hsieh told reporters yesterday morning. "In addition, this case concerns national security and classified information. The state public prosecutor-general will comment on this case, not me."

Wanted man

The case concerns Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), who is wanted in Taiwan over his role in the Lafayette-class frigate scandal. Wang was the local agent for Thomson-CSF (now called Thales), a French firm that sold six Lafayette-class frigates to Taiwan for US$2.8 billion.

The firm is alleged to have used kickbacks in the early 1990s to persuade Taiwanese officials to buy the ships and to defuse opposition from French and Chinese officials.

Wang fled Taiwan in 2000 following the death of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), who is widely believed to have been murdered when he was about to blow the whistle on colleagues for accepting bribes.

Cabinet Secretary-General and Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) issued a press release saying that the Cabinet would do anything it takes to "maintain justice and national security."

"This case concerns a lot of suspicious kickbacks," the press release said. "If Swiss banks agree to transfer that information to us, it will definitely help the investigation."

Abuse of power?

But People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday criticized Hsieh's guarantees, saying that the premier was "acting like the emperor of the Republic of China."

PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), who also serves as the director of policy research, said Hsieh had seriously infringed on the powers of the judiciary.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) dismissed such comments as "grotesque."

"It only proves that the [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)] still harbors a monarchical attitude," he said. "Taiwan is a democracy governed by the rule of law. Neither the premier nor the president can meddle in judicial affairs," Lai said.

The premier, however, can request that the president grant an amnesty to Wang to honor his pledge if Wang were to be sentenced to death, Lai said.

He added that he welcomed the KMT caucus' proposal to form a commission of inquiry to probe further into the Lafayette frigate and Mirage jet fighter scandals.

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus whip Mark Ho (何敏豪) said the Executive Yuan owes the public an explanation for the premier's reported promises.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) emphasized that since Switzerland has banned the death penalty, its government will only help Taiwanese authorities if they can guarantee that Wang will not be executed.

"The death penalty is the crux concerning whether the Swiss government will help Taiwan in getting Wang back," the minister told the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee yesterday.

According to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, requests to freeze all bank accounts connected to the scandal were made by Taiwanese and French law enforcement officials on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2001.

In December 2003, Swiss Judge Paul Berraudin froze US$600 million in Swiss bank accounts related to the case.

Swiss justice agents then authorized access to information relating to the accounts to Taiwanese officials to help in their investigation, but only on the condition that Wang's full legal rights would be upheld and he would not be at risk of being put to death in Taiwan.

Former minister of justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) signed an agreement with the Swiss Federal Office of Justice on June 11 last year. The agreement promised that no death penalty will be given to Wang, that Wang would be assigned a defense counsel if a trial is held in Taiwan, that he has the right to appeal and that he will be regarded as innocent until proven guilty.

However, Chen Ding-nan's agreement with Swiss officials may be problematic, because the Ministry of Justice's Supreme Court Prosecutors' Office is only in charge of investigations and indictments, not trials.

As a result, although the ministry promised that prosecutors will not suggest the death penalty for Wang in their indictment, the ministry does not have the final authority to decide whether Wang will be executed.

In addition to being wanted for his alleged role in kickbacks, Wang is suspected of involvement in Yin's murder. 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. 10, 1993, and his death prompted the initial investigations into irregularities in the Lafayette deal.

Investigators believe that the deal may have been riddled with 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.

In addition to allegedly distributing kickbacks, Wang is suspected of having himself received a share of the illegal proceeds for his role in securing the deal.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan

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