Ma accuses prosecutors of double standards

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday accused prosecutors of applying double standards in handling probes into government officials' use of their special allowance funds.

Responding to an announcement by the Supreme Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday that it would not indict former Judicial Yuan president Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) over the use of his special allowance fund, Ma urged the judiciary to reach a consensus on the issue.

Ma was indicted in February on charges of misusing his Taipei mayoral special allowance fund, but was found not guilty in the initial trial.

Although he agreed with the prosecutors' decision in Weng's case, they should apply the same rules to all similar cases, Ma said yesterday in Ilan County.

"All special allowance cases should be dealt with based on the same standards to avoid harming innocent people," Ma said.

Prosecutors who examined the receipts Weng had submitted for funds requiring accounting oversight determined that he had not used personal receipts to seek reimbursement.

Meanwhile, KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) told a press conference that prosecutors' decision not to indict Weng showed that Ma's indictment in the special allowance case was a case of "political persecution."

When asked for comment, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) also lashed out at the judiciary, saying that prosecutors applied "inconsistent" standards in dealing with different politicians.

"If prosecutors handled Weng's case using the same standards they had when investigating Ma's case, I think they would have indicted Weng as well as [Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate] Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and [his running mate] Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌)," Wu said.