The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) insisted yesterday that it had made only administrative mistakes in issuing a passport and legal documents to the wife of a fugitive murder suspect, even as the Control Yuan continued grilling ministry officials over questionable aspects of the issuing process.
After a swift two-day internal investigation, the ministry concluded that negligence was to blame for a passport being issued to Yeh Hsiu-chen (
According to the Control Yuan, Yeh, who had applied for a new passport in London in March, failed to provide a number of key pieces of information on her passport application form. She also provided incorrect information, investigators said.
Control Yuan member Chao Yung-yao (
detailed information
Investigators issued a letter to the London office inquiring into Wang's whereabouts for the second time in July 2001 and provided the office with detailed information about Wang's family in December of last year, Chao said.
"Investigators gave the office information about Wang's wife and two children. It is incomprehensible that the London office still remained ignorant of Yeh's identity," Chao said.
Considering the condition of Yeh's passport application form, Chao said the London office should not have issued her a passport for that reason alone. "Anyone who provides an application form like that should not be issued a passport," he said.
The Control Yuan yesterday interrogated Chang Jia-hua (
Both Chang and Hsu were aware of the information about Wang's family that was provided by investigators, Control Yuan member Ma Yi-kung (馬以工) said.
"The documents that investigators gave the office included the names, birthdays and passport numbers of Wang's family members," he said.
Ma said that Yeh had not explained on her application form how she had lost her previous passport. "But she got a new passport the day after she had sent her in application form," Ma said.
cover-up?
Meanwhile, rejecting speculation that the ministry had attempted a cover-up of the process through which Yeh was issued a passport, Anna Kao (
Kao declined to comment on assertions by the Control Yuan that the ministry had not been truthful about its handling of the case.
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