The prosecutor in charge of the investigation into the Oct. 31, 2000 crash of a Singapore Airlines plane at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport yesterday defended a move to subpoena the pilots of the plane.
Chiang Kuei-chang (
He said such a move would not constitute an indictment.
Chiang said that Taiwan is a democratic country ruled by its own set of laws, so prosecutors have no choice but to follow the law when investigations of this nature are conducted. Instead of being some form of judicial harassment, Chiang said, a hearing gives the pilots the chance to clear the air.
Chiang made the remarks after an official of Singapore's Airline Pilots Association told Singapore's Chinese-language daily, Lian He Zhao Bao (聯合早報), that the three pilots subpoenaed by prosecutors haven't decided whether to show up at a hearing in Taiwan set for May 8.
The union official said the three pilots, including the Malaysian captain, Foong Chee Kong, and two Singaporean co-pilots, Latiff Cyrano and Ng Kheng Leng, didn't understand the legal significance of the hearing.
He said they wondered if the hearing was a prelude to a trial, how long it would take, how it was to be conducted and whether they could return to Singapore during the hearing if the proceedings were long and drawn out.
Chiang said that prosecutors would not subject the pilots to unreasonable treatment and that the hearing would be conducted to find the truth of what happened before and after the crash -- inside a legal framework.
Prosecutors will decide whether to take legal action against the three pilots after the hearing. Chiang said that, in this case, the decision will be made within 15 days after the hearing.
He said the prosecutors will consult Taiwan's laws, international legal precedents and similar cases in other countries, before making their decision.
Should the pilots fail to show up for the hearing, Chiang said, it would make the prosecutors' task of finding the truth more difficult and could put the pilots' innocence in doubt.
The crash took place when the Singapore Airlines' plane attempted to take off from a closed-down runway during a typhoon and struck construction equipment. Eighty-three people on board were killed.
The three pilots were held for two months in Taiwan while the crash investigation got underway.
Prosecutors served subpoenas on the pilots after a panel charged with investigating the crash released its report on April 26. The report said pilot error was the probable cause of the accident.
The International Federation of Airline Pilots has appealed to Taiwan's authorities not to indict the pilots and has hinted that it may not allow its members to fly planes to Taiwan if the three men are prosecuted.
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