Minister of National Defense Wu Shih-wen (
The allegation had been made in a confession made in private to an opposition legislator.
"The allegations made by ex-navy Captain Kuo Li-heng (
The opposition lawmaker was Lee Ching-hua (
Yu, a top-ranking naval officer, had served as deputy chief of the general staff, retiring from the service in the late 1960s. He is now over 90 years old.
Wu made the remarks in a telephone interview with the press yesterday morning. His comments form part of his response to recent allegations by Kuo that claimed Yu had passed NT$2.5 million on to Kuo via a third party. The transaction was alleged to have been connected to a weapons sale and bribery scandal that culminated in Yin's murder more than six years ago.
"The Ministry of National Defense (MND) wants to see the Yin murder solved as soon as possible," Wu said.
"Many of the people connected with the case have retired during the past six years. If any of them is liable in any way, there is no reason for us to shoulder the consequences for them," Wu said.
Meanwhile, a cross-department task force established on Monday under order from President Chen Shui-bian (
During the meeting, the task force members, from both civil and military sectors, agreed to assign the investigation of the Yin murder itself to the Criminal Investigation Bureau and that of the weapons purchase scandal to the Taipei branch of the Investigation Bureau, Lu said.
Rear Admiral Liu Chin-an (
"I believe my participation in the investigation will be of great assistance in the resolution of this case," Liu said.
Liu was one of the first navy personnel to be involved in the investigations of the Yin murder. He was chief of the judicial department of the navy general headquarters when the murder took place in 1993.
But lawmaker Lee Ching-hua and Yin's widow, Li, questioned the credibility of Liu, who Lee said should be investigated by legal authorities first.
"Many military officials who have been involved in investigations into the Yin murder have now been promoted," Lee said. "Liu is one of them. Liu should not be a member of the newly-formed task force. Serious problems will arise with his involvement in the investigation."
Doubts about Liu's credibility stem mainly from the fact that a tell-tale cassette tape, in which captain Yin had recorded important conversations with several arms dealers before he was murdered, was mysteriously demagnetized before reaching the hands of Liu and other naval investigators several days after the murder.
Liu defended his record yesterday by saying that the recorded conversations on the cassette had already been removed through demagnetization before he had been given access to them.
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