The Taipei District Court yesterday declined a second request by prosecutors to seize documents allegedly relating to the president's secret diplomatic projects from the Presidential Office.
The prosecutors' first request for the documents -- which they hope to use as evidence in the "state affairs fund" case in which the first lady is a defendant -- was refused last Friday.
President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), and three former Presidential Office aides -- deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成), secretariat director Lin Te-hsun (林德訓) and treasurer Chen Cheng-hui (陳鎮慧) -- were indicted on charges of corruption for allegedly embezzling NT$14.8 million (US$449,600) from the "state affairs fund," a special allowance fund designed to be used by the president for emergencies.
"Now that the Presidential Office has refused to produce certain documents relating to the the six diplomatic projects, officers of the court should go to the Presidential Office and seize them," Prosecutor Lin Ta (
Lin said prosecutors had not requested that the Presidential Office submit documents detailing the contents of the six diplomatic projects, but merely a list of the secret diplomatic projects from July 2002 to December last year, as well as documents that showed how the diplomatic projects had been approved and then placed under the protection of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (
Three lots of documents had been sealed by Prosecutor Eric Chen (
"If we do not swiftly clarify whether these documents are confidential or not and whether prosecutors, defense attorneys and presiding judges can read them or not, we will not get anywhere," Lin said.
Defense attorneys agreed that the court should clarify whether the three lots of documents were confidential or not. Attorney Richard Lee (
Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (
The court sent a similar letter last Friday, but the Presidential Office replied on Wednesday that it was a matter for the president himself to decide.
Wu was absent from yesterday's hearing. She has been at National Taiwan University Hospital since falling ill during the court's first hearing on Dec. 15.
Prosecutor Chang Hsi-huai (張熙懷) also did not attend yesterday's hearing. Chang, who has come under fire from Democratic Progressive Party legislators over his alleged pro-China sentiment, reportedly broke down on Tuesday night and the prosecutors' office told him to take a rest.
The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office said that the accusations have left him depressed.
"More than 800 prosecutors nationwide signed a petition to show their support for Chang and their indignation at the baseless attack on him," Prosecutor Lin said during the hearing.
"Chang is sick and he needs a rest, but the really sick people are those who attacked him," Lin said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique