Anti-black gold centers to close

Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan's (陳定南) announcement yesterday that the regional special investigation sections of the Black Gold Investigation Center would close in two years had ministry officials scrambling to stress that the move would not impede efforts to eliminate political corruption

Chen told the legislature's Judicial Committee yesterday that the four regional sections will be closed no later than Sept. 30, 2004

He made the announcement after PFP Legislator Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) questioned him about the value of the four sections, given that much of their work overlaps with that of local district prosecutors.

Chen was at the Judicial Committee meeting to seek approval for the Black Gold Investigation Center's 2003 budget of NT$18 million. The committee approved the budget.

Ministry official later sought to reassure the public that closing down the sections would not mean an end to anti-corruption efforts. They said that by the planned closing date local prosecutors would be experienced enough in anti-black gold efforts to enable them to function independently of the center.

"Prosecutors from the four sec-tions have worked with local prosecutors for the last two years. By Sept 30, 2004, they will have four years of experience working on these cases," a spokesman for Chen told the Taipei Times.

"They will take over the job and work independently, although prosecutors from the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office will still be available to assist them when necessary," the spokesman said.

He declined to comment when asked whether the closure was because of financial problems.

The special investigation sections -- located in the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Offices in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung -- are the core of the Black Gold Investigation Center.

The center was set up on July 1, 2000 at the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office.

It was designed to bring together prosecutors specializing in the handling of black-gold crimes from both the High Court and the district courts, to work with prosecutors nation-wide in the fight against political corruption.

Prosecutors in the four regional sections are authorized to issue orders to local district prosecutors, agents from the Bureau of Investigation, military police officers and police officers.

Once the four sections have been closed, most of their work will be taken over by district prosecutors and the Black Gold Investigation Center will become a supervisory office.

Chief Prosecutor Shen Ming-lun (沈明倫) of Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office, who is also one of the center's prosecutors, said that he was not surprised to hear that the sections will be closed.

"We have always had financial problems," Shen said. "But closing down the offices doesn't mean that our work will end."

Another prosecutor from Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office, Chen Jui-jen (陳瑞仁), said that he was not worried that anti-black gold operations would suffer.

"We [the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office] will back up local district prosecutors whenever necessary, as we always have," he said. "The crackdown on black gold will continue."