The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s ruling in which former National Palace Museum director Shih Shou-chien (石守謙) and 14 other people were found not guilty on charges of corruption regarding renovation work on the museum’s main exhibition hall.
Charges were brought against Shih, former museum deputy director Lin Po-ting (林柏亭), former museum chief secretary Hsueh Fei-yuan (薛飛源) and 12 others in 2007 over claims that they falsified the public bidding price, pre-selected certain companies to win the bid and leaked information about estimated construction costs.
In 2007, the Shihlin District Prosecutors’ Office asked the courts to sentence Shih, who is well-known in both academic and arts circles, to 15 years in prison on corruption charges for allegedly inflating the cost of the renovation project from NT$385 million (US$12.7 million) to NT$600 million.
In 2009, Shihlin prosecutors charged Shih again, saying that he had helped San Gung Co secure a NT$840,000 construction service fee and also helped Lend Lease Co win the bid.
In September, Shih, Lin and other museum officials were found not guilty on all the charges by the Shihlin District Court.
The High Court’s ruling yesterday said there were many mistakes in the prosecution’s indictment, adding that some of the prosecution’s charges either violated the law or lacked sufficient evidence.
The High Court said the prosecutors could still appeal yesterday’s ruling to the Supreme Court.
Commenting on the case, Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Lin Feng-cheng (林峰正) yesterday said that there have been many cases of charges being leveled against former officials of the former Democratic Progressive Party government, who were later found not guilty.
The number of these unsuccessful prosecutions shows that the charges were often based on weak evidence, he said.
Lawyer Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) said there were several cases where former government officials were investigated and indicted by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division, only to be later found not guilty by the courts.
Kao called for a review into the manner in which the division conducts its investigations.
Additional reporting by Lin Chun-hung
Unsuccessful prosecutions of government officials
Case 1: Former deputy minister of national defense Ko Cheng-heng (柯承亨) was charged with leaking classified documents regarding a presidential state affairs fund case to then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Result: Taipei District Court found Ko not guilty in the first trial. In the second trial, the Taiwan High Court said in a final ruling on Aug. 17 last year that Ko was not guilty.
Case 2: Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) was charged with accepting NT$2.1 million (US$69,000) in bribes regarding the construction of a sanitary landfill and the expansion of the Yunlin branch of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Prosecutors requested that she be sentenced to 15 years in prison. She staged a hunger strike for 11 days, protesting what she said was a political prosecution.
Result: The Yunlin District Court found Su not guilty in April. Prosecutors filed an appeal on May 19.
Case 3: Former Presidential Office secretary-general Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and former deputy minister of foreign affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) were charged with embezzling US$500,000 in diplomatic funds.
Result: Taipei District Court found the two not guilty on Aug. 30. Prosecutors have appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
Case 4: Former National Palace Museum director Shih Shou-chien (石守謙) and 14 others were charged with corruption relating to the renovation of the museum.
Result: The Shihlin District Court found all the defendants not guilty on Sept. 1, and in a second trial the Taiwan High Court upheld the not guilty verdict. Prosecutors can appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
Case 5: Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was charged with embezzling NT$104.53 million from a state affairs fund.
Result: The Taiwan High Court rescinded the previous rulings and found Chen not guilty of corruption in a retrial of the case on Aug. 26. Prosecutors are appealing the case.
Case 6: Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) and 19 others were charged with accepting bribes from companies, including Cathay Financial Holdings and Yuanta Financial Holdings, as well as money laundering.
Result: The Taipei District Court acquitted all 21 defendants on Nov. 5 last year. Prosecutors have appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
Case 7: Former National Science Council deputy minister Shieh Ching-jyh (謝清志) was indicted on corruption charges in 2006 for collaborating with a private company to take NT$3.4 billion in profits from a construction project. Prosecutors sought a 15-year jail term.
Result: Shieh, along with nine others, were found non guilty by the Taiwan High Court on June 15 last year.
Case 8: Former Nantou County commissioner Peng Pai-hsien (彭百顯) was charged with corruption in several reconstruction projects after the earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999. He was detained for 61 days and the lawsuit dragged on for more than 10 years.
Result: The case was settled in July when the Supreme Court overruled the prosecutors’ request for an appeal.
Case 9: Former Tainan mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) was charged with corruption for favoring a company’s bid on a construction project in Tainan City. Prosecutors requested a 12-year prison sentence.
Result: The Tainan Branch of the Taiwan High Court found him not guilty in August and prosecutors did not appeal.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS