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Top prosecutor defends handling of Ma

"What I said was that we would summon him if necessary, but we will leave him alone if there is no urgent need."

Chen Tsung-ming, state prosecutor-general

Following a report that electoral considerations were influencing prosecutors, the nation's top prosecutor yesterday said his office had not decided whether to summon Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for questioning in corruption cases before March.

State Prosecutor-General Chen Tsung-ming (陳聰明) made the remark after rebutting a report in the Chinese-language Next magazine yesterday said that Chen had ordered prosecutors from the special investigation team not to summon Ma for questioning before the presidential election as it could affect his chances.

"Prosecutors will only interview him before the elections if the investigations require them to do so," Chen said.

The special investigation team is probing corruption allegations against Ma and the KMT.

The cases involve the three-in-one sale of the Broadcasting Corporation of China, China Television Co and the Central Motion Picture Corp to China Times Group subsidiary Jungli Investment Co in 2005 for NT$9.3 billion (US$286.7 million), and the party's sale of the Institute of Policy Research and Development building to Yuan Lih Construction Corp for NT$4.3 billion last year.

Both deals took place when Ma was party chairman.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are also investigating Ma's usage of his special allowances during his terms as minister of justice, vice minister of the Mainland Affairs Council and other positions.

The Taiwan High Court last Friday found Ma not guilty of corruption. Ma had been indicted last February on charges of embezzling NT$11 million from his special mayoral allowance during his eight years as Taipei mayor.

Prosecutors are considering whether to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

In response to Chen's announcement, Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) yesterday told a press conference that Chen should not rule out interviewing Ma before the election for political reasons.

"There should be no holidays in criminal investigations. Chen's decision will also impact upon the image of the nation's prosecutorial system," Wang said.

"I was quite surprised when I read the report in Next magazine. If prosecutors really do wait to question Ma, it is quite possible that we will have a potential suspect as our next president. That would be terrible," Wang said.

Wang also said Chen, as public prosecutor-general, should not have commented on the progress of the probe in public or in private because it violated a gag order that applies to such cases.

In response to Wang's criticism, Chen said his remarks had been taken out of context and that Next magazine had misled its readers.

"What I said was that we would summon him if necessary, but we will leave him alone if there is no urgent need," Chen said. "I do not understand why the reporter misquoted me."

He said that he would organize a press conference to clarify his statement if necessary.
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