Special forces pilot Lao Nai-cheng (勞乃成) and television personality Janet Lee (李蒨蓉) may face charges over state security offenses after the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday overturned a decision by local prosecutors not to indict the two over the so-called “Apache helicopter tour” incident at a military base in Taoyuan.
The office issued a statement saying that the actions of the lieutenant colonel when he led a civilian tour of the base in March may have violated Articles 20 and 21 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法) on leaking military secrets and confidential information.
The two articles also deal with “offenses against internal and external security of the state,” and questions remain about possible violations by the tour group of 14 civilians, which included Lao’s and Lee’s families and friends, it said.
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The office added that the initial investigation was not comprehensive enough, with some evidence needing further clarification, and instructed Taoyuan prosecutors to reopen the case for possible indictment.
Yesterday’s announcement was a rebuke of the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office over its decision in August not to take the case to court, which was widely perceived as letting Lao and the group off the hook, and spurred another wave of protest in society.
At the time, Taoyuan prosecutors said that they based their decision on an official reply from the Ministry of National Defense, which said the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade base in Taoyuan, where the tour took place, was not a “vital military installation,” and therefore taking photographs at the base, entering the cockpit of an Apache helicopter and wearing its pilot’s helmet did not constitute violations of the provisions on leaking military secrets or confidential information.
In related developments, the Judicial Yuan’s Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries said it had decided to suspend Lao for two years for his actions in the Apache scandal.
The commission also handed out six-month suspensions to Major General Chien Tsung-yuan (簡聰淵), commander of the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade, and Lieutenant Colonel Tao Kuo-chen (陶國禎), personnel section head of the brigade, for conducting civilian tours of the base and its aircraft.
The commission cited Lai’s numerous infractions, including unauthorized removal of an Apache pilot’s high-tech headgear from the base for personal use at a private party, flouting of military base entry access regulations to bring in family members and friends for a tour without proper registration and security checks, and permitting civilians to sit in the helicopter’s cockpit and take photographs that were posted on social media sites.
“Lao had contributed to the public’s negative perception of the military,” the commission said. “He used important weapons systems of the nation’s armed forces as tools for his personal social networking, which were reported in the media and sparked an uproar.
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