Crackdown on `black gold' gets boost from KMT

KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) urged judicial bodies to conduct a three-month investigation into Independent Legislator Lo Fu-chu (羅福助) yesterday.

Lo was elected convener of the legislature's Judicial Committee last Thursday, despite indignant DPP legislators who said Lo was connected to the Tiendaomeng (天道盟) organized crime group.

"Use Lo's case as a litmus test for the new government's resolve in eradicating `black gold' politics. If criminal evidence can be found against him, it will be a great opportunity to prove whether the legislature shields members who have committed crimes," Chen said yesterday at a seminar held by the Taiwan Association of University Professors (台灣教授協會) to discuss the legal procedures to eradicate "black gold."

Chen added that "if judicial powers find no criminal evidence against Lo, then he deserves an apology from the DPP."

New Party Legislator Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who was also present at the seminar yesterday, said: "The Legislative Yuan has become a stronghold of `black gold' and it should not put up its own protective umbrella."

Hau said legislation was necessary to fight "black gold" politics. He also said a two-vote electoral system should also be adopted and that electoral precincts should be rezoned into smaller ones.

DPP Legislator Hung Chi-chang (洪奇昌), said he hoped "the public would not erroneously associate the eradication of `black gold' with political and economic instability" so that judicial powers would not be discouraged in their campaign to bring corruption under control.

Hung also stressed the importance of respecting human rights and due process in investigations into "black gold" crimes.

Deputy convener of the Prosecutors' Reform Association (檢改會) Chen Jui-jen (陳瑞仁), however, said problems in the legal system, as well as a lack of professionalism on the part of prosecutors needed to be addressed before the new government's policy to crack down on "black gold" could be put into force.

"The Bureau of Investigation (調查局) has dedicated less than 20 percent of its human resources to criminal investigations, with 80 percent being directed toward national security investigations instead. This violates the principle of separating public security work from intelligence work (情治分立)," Chen Jui-jen said, adding that the police's work evaluation system should also be reformed.

The Ministry of Justice Bureau of Investigation is intended to handle only criminal investigations, but the organization has recently been revealed to have been carrying out so-called "political investigations" on individual politicians for alleged threats to national security. Most of the bureau's investigation work was in these investigations.

The bureau's work in investigating individual politicians came to the surface in a recent dispute between Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Ma claimed that the bureau had been carrying out investigations on his administration at Chen's orders, a claim which the president denied.

Chen Jui-jen further suggested that President Chen allow military police to assist prosecutors in conducting criminal investigations to make up for a lack of manpower at the investigation bureau.

"As long as prosecutors preside over the investigations, the public will not have reservations about the military police's involvement in legal procedures," he added.