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Former first lady cross-examined in Nangang case

Former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) appeared in court yesterday to be questioned and cross-examined as a witness in the trial against former minister of the interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲), who is a defendant in the Nangang Exhibition Center case.

Wu said she had been manipulated by her friend, Tsai Ming-che (蔡銘哲).

In December, prosecutors indicted Yu for his alleged involvement in irregularities related to the construction of the exhibition center.

Yu admitted to leaking the names of the evaluation board for the project to potential contractors, but said that he did not receive any bribes.

Nangang Exhibition Center contractor Kuo Chuan-ching (郭銓慶) said he had collected US$2.73 million to bribe the first family in return for winning the tender to build the center between 2002 and 2003.

Last month, Wu said she received US$2.2 million from Kuo, not US$2.73 million as stated in the indictment.

Wu yesterday said she had asked Yu to use “the most advantageous tender,” but that at the time she was only passing on the message from Tsai.

“I am not familiar with construction [terminology], so I didn’t know what that term [the most advantageous tender] meant,” she said.

Wu also denied mentioning anything to Yu about the list of names of the evaluation board members.

She said that she was manipulated by Tsai because he should have told her what the term “the most advantageous tender” meant.

“It wasn’t until after the scandal broke that I asked my son what the term [meant],” she told the judges. “They used my lack of knowledge about construction [to their advantage] … I thought that I was only suggesting to Yu to use whichever contractor named the best price.”

Asked by Presiding Judge Lin Chun-ling (林春鈴) whether he told Wu about Kuo and his construction company, Tsai said: “Yes.”

However, Wu replied: “No, he [Tsai] is lying … I saw him grow up as a kid. Now that he’s turned out like this, I feel very sad.”

A grim-faced Wu kept her head low throughout the confrontation with Tsai. Because of low blood pressure, she left the Taipei District Court at about 4:15pm after spending an hour and 40 minutes in court.

Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), in response to Special Investigation Panel (SIP) prosecutor Wu Wen-chung’s (吳文忠) comments that he had been betrayed by his superiors in the panel reshuffle, said yesterday the decision was appropriate and not meant as a slight to the SIP.

On Tuesday, the ministry announced that six prosecutors would be added to the SIP and three would be removed in a routine reshuffle.

Wu Wen-chung was among the three to be removed.

At the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee meeting yesterday, lawmakers grilled Wang over the performance of SIP prosecutors. Asked for comment on whether State Public Prosecutor-General Chen Tsung-ming (陳聰明) had hindered the panel’s investigations into allegations against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Wang said that if she were Chen Tsung-ming, she would have resigned a long time ago.

“This is how my personality is. I don’t think you have to limit yourself to a single battlefield. If I had been humiliated and criticized for a long time [like Chen Tsung-ming], I would leave,” Wang said.

In response to Wu’s remarks that he had been betrayed by his superiors, Wang said that aside from professional knowledge, prosecutors should have “iron-like discipline” and that the ministry was not attacking the SIP.

“I commend the SIP’s performance and am very thankful for their hard work,” she said.

“Prosecutors should obey the law, not any particular person,” Wang said.

Wang urged prosecutors to persevere when they encounter public criticism, but said she understood why Wu would feel emotional about the reshuffle.
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