A prosecutor investigating embezzlement accusations surrounding Colonel Liu Kuan-chun (
But the reporter who published the documents -- transcripts of three interviews with National Security Bureau officials -- said the airing of the secret files was not to blame.
The China Times Express on Saturday partially published transcripts of interviews with three National Security Bureau officials implicated in the Liu case.
On Tuesday, prosecutors raided the newspaper's newsroom -- sparking widespread criticism that the investigators were trampling on press freedom.
Taipei district prosecutor Hsueh Wei-ping (
"An atmosphere of distrust has grown within the group," Hsueh said. "Because it's unknown who leaked the secret interrogation transcripts to the press, group members have been suspicious of one another."
Civil and military prosecutors, along with the justice ministry's investigation bureau, are jointly probing the embezzlement case. These officials are, in normal circumstances, believed to be the only persons having access to the interrogation records.
"Now we ourselves are under investigation and subject to questioning," Hsueh complained.
The security breach has been established as a separate criminal case and is being pursued by another group of Taipei district prosecutors.
Hsueh said the investigation into the leak as slowed down the investigation into Liu.
But Wang Yin-fang (
"A journalist shall report what is needed to be reported," Wang said. "Prosecutors should not shift responsibility to the press for the slow progress of their investigation."
Hsueh said he did not know the source of the information leak, but speculated the act was carried out deliberately. "The purpose was to alienate members on the investigative team and hinder the investigation," he said. "And they succeeded."
DPP Legislator Chang Ching-fang (
Chang said that the partially published interrogation records was unfavorable to certain high-ranking National Security Bureau figures.
Also, Chang said, if the source of the secret leak could be found, so could accomplices in the embezzlement case.
Chang postulated that certain forces within the security bureau were trying to disrupt the Liu investigation.
Liu Kuan-chun, the former chief cashier at the agency charged with embezzlement, remains missing. Military prosecutors issued an order for his arrest last Thursday.
While military prosecutor Lee Jung-yuna (
Chang called on the Presidential Office to set up a higher-level special investigation task force to focus on the case, as has been done in the Yin Ching-feng (
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