Print

Mail

wiki links

Ambassador blasts court decision

"I believe that the judge is totally crazy ... She put the long-lasting and good relations between the two countries at risk."

Jose Antonio Dominguez, Panamanian ambassador

The Panamanian ambassador criticized yesterday a ruling by the Taipei District Court asking his country's embassy to pay NT$1 million to a local company over a fraudulent car sale by former ambassadors, saying the decision was detrimental to bilateral ties.

"I believe that the judge is totally crazy ... She put the long-lasting and good relations between the two countries at risk," Ambassador Jose Antonio Dominguez of Panama told the Taipei Times yesterday.

On June 3, the Taipei District Court asked the embassy to pay Collins Co NT$1 million plus interest retroactive to April 1, 1996, until payment is made.

Judge Wang Cheng-hsiou (王貞秀) declined to comment when contacted by phone yesterday.

Wilber Ko, deputy manager of Collins Co, said his firm "respects the verdict by the district court," but declined to elaborate.

While the embassy can appeal the ruling within 20 days upon receiving copies of the verdict, the ambassador said his government is still deciding on ways to handle the case.

"I expect to see a strong response from our government," he said.

The ambassador said his predecessors have been involved in what he termed "wrongdoings" by selling vehicles registered for diplomatic use to locals.

But he argued that neither the embassy nor the state of Panama should be held legally responsible for this conduct.

According to the verdict, in 1994 the former Panamanian ambassador illegally sold a Mercedes-Benz 600 limousine registered for diplomatic use to Tang Shou-hung (湯紹洪) after removing the car's ambassador-only license plate.

The car, which Tang first reported stolen and then found in a parking lot in downtown Taipei, was sold several times using falsified documents and fake plates until it reached Collins, which was not aware of its origin, the verdict said.

In March 1996, the police seized the car and later decided to return the vehicle to the embassy, unaware the car had been sold to Tang in 1994, the verdict said.

Former ambassador Carlos Mendoza, who was in charge of the embassy in 1996, agreed to sell the car for NT$1 million to Lee Chin-hai (李金海), who accompanied a police officer to the office to inform Mendoza of the car's return, the verdict said.

"The Embassy of Panama did not receive a single cent from this transaction, nor did the Treasury of Panama," Ambassador Dominguez said.

In 2000 Collins filed a complaint seeking ownership of the car and compensation from the embassy, the verdict said.

The judge should ask the former ambassadors who were involved in profiting from sale of the car to pay for the compensation instead, Dominguez said.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official involved in the case declined to comment, while adding the ministry would respect the decision of the court.

The judge in the verdict cited article 31 of Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to back up her argument.

The conduct by two former ambassadors from Panama, in 1994 and 1996, amounted to commercial activities outside their official functions and therefore these agents could not enjoy immunity from Taiwan's civil and administrative jurisdiction, the verdict said.
This story has been viewed 2172 times.