As reports surface alleging that the Ministry of Justice is covering up an ongoing scandal involving members of the judiciary, Minister of Justice Yeh Chin-fong (
Responding yesterday to challenges over her resolve in handling the case, Yeh said she would not allow any attempts at a white-wash, and has ordered State Public Prosecutor General Lu Jen-fa (
"Lu is one of the few persons thought appropriate to take charge, given the fact that the State Public Prosecutor General's Office of the Supreme Court is the only agency whose prosecutors have not been linked to the misconduct," Yeh said.
DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung (
Two of the prosecutors named by Lee are from the Public Prosecutors' Office of the Taiwan High Court. The other, Ho Chun-ying (
At a closed-door meeting with the minister yesterday, members of the Prosecutors' Reform Association (
"We were told that a few higher-level prosecutors have also played a part in the scandal, which made us suspect existing investigations by district prosecutors will not reveal the true extent of the case, said Liu Wei-tsung (
Association members also pointed out that the government ethics department is not qualified to handle the case because its own prosecutor is suspected of misconduct.
Yeh said she did not agree, but stressed it was both her own and the association's goal to find out the whole truth -- which now involves not only district prosecutors but High Court prosecutors too.
Yeh said she has requested Lu find a means by which impartiality can be maintained during the investigation, to ensure that its findings are just. Ho, because of his suspicion of misconduct, will no longer take part in the investigations, Yeh said.
It is very rare for the Prosecutor General to oversee matters concerning the ethics of public officials, analysts said.
Last November, a legislator disclosed that judges and prosecutors were engaged in illicit transactions of Taiwan Pineapple stock, coinciding with an existing investigation into suspected insider-trading at the company.
Though many had thought the scandal had been fully exposed, further disclosure of information on Thursday has widened the scope of the high-profile judiciary scandal.
In releasing Lee Yu-huei's bank records, Lee Wen-chung drew attention to the fact that Ho, High Court prosecutor Chen Wei-lien (
Also under suspicion is money Lee received from Yang Kuei-sen (
Lee accused the district prosecutors involved of not dis-charging their duties properly -- questioning why they did not take any action after receiving the information revealed on Thursday.
Lee Wei-chang (李韋昌), one of the three prosecutors in charge, said yesterday that he could not find any evidence that the three prosecutors have been engaged in transactions involving Taiwan Pine-apple stock -- adding that there is nothing unlawful about their relationships with Lee Yu-huei.
Other prosecutors are apparently worried that the collective image of the judiciary will be further tarnished.
"We will not allow any more cover-ups. Are we going to wait for another two months and for another legislator to disclose further information on the scandal?" Liu asked.
"Should such a situation arise, I'll be ashamed to call myself a prosecutor," Liu said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
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