Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
Describing the verdict as the "voice of justice," Ma said an hour after learning the ruling that he had always believed he would be found innocent, adding that the ruling should resolve all disputes over the use of the special allowance fund by defining it as a subsidy.
"This waste of time and resources should be put to an end now ... The prosecutors should make a wise decision on whether they're going to look into other officials' allowance funds," Ma told a press conference yesterday at the office of Lee and Li Attorneys-at-Law.
PHOTO: SAM YEH, AFP
When asked whether he meant the prosecutors should not investigate the use of such funds by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) bigwigs such as Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Ma said the prosecutors should stop wasting time on any special allowance cases.
"This applies to everyone, whether he or she is a politician or a government official," he said.
In an effort to clear Ma's name, the KMT filed lawsuits against Lu, Su, Hsieh and other current and former government officials who had received special allowance funds.
As it took prosecutors and the district court 10 months to probe and try his case, Ma said it would take 1,000 prosecutors more than 10 years to look into all 6,500 government officials' special allowance funds.
Ma also accused "a particular prosecutor" of treating him "unfairly" during the trial and said that prosecutors distorted testimony.
"I can image there must be others whose human rights have been violated and the lack of respect for these defendants' human rights should be examined thoroughly," he said.
"During the past six months, I've endured all kinds of insults and have been disgraced while I fought for my innocence ... I will continue my fight with others who believe in the principles of integrity and justice," he said.
KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
"Ma is the politician with the most integrity -- yet he was indicted on corruption charges. The party is gratified that the court has cleared his name," Wu said at KMT headquarters.
Also see story:
Editorial: Ma verdict raises more questions
Also see story:
Not-guilty verdict boosts shares, but not for very long
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS