The Ministry of Justice yesterday denied reports that the judge in former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) embezzlement and corruption case would be switched again.
The denial came after Chinese-language weekly Next Magazine reported that a recent meeting of the Council of Grand Justices reached a consensus that the decision to relieve Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) of Chen’s case and hand it over to Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) was unconstitutional.
The case may be returned to Chou, and Chen could be released from detention as early as next month, the magazine reported.
When Chou was presiding over Chen’s case last year, he twice ruled against detaining Chen, saying that Chen had no opportunity to flee because as a former president he was constantly protected and escorted by special agents.
However, when the case was switched to Tsai, he repeatedly ruled to keep the former president behind bars because he said Chen might collude with witnesses or try to abscond.
In December last year, a panel of judges ordered that Chou be replaced by Tsai, who would preside over the four new cases filed against the former president. The switch was controversial and skeptics questioned whether the decision to merge the trials was procedurally flawed and politically motivated.
Chen’s lawyer Shih Yi-ling (石宜琳) yesterday said he would be glad to see the grand justices rule Chen’s detainment was against the law.
“If the grand justices rule that the former president’s case was procedurally flawed, it would have a positive impact on litigation rights,” Shih said.
In response, the ministry denied reports of any plans to hand the cases back to Chou.
“The grand justices are still in the process of gathering and sifting through the information,” ministry spokesperson Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said.
He said there was no timeline on when the grand justices would announce their ruling.
When asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said: “They [grand justices] should not make a constitutional interpretation that contradicts mainstream public opinion.”
Saying that 10 of the 15 Grand Justices were nominated by the former president, Lee said: “This is not the time for you to repay [Chen] for his nomination.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
RSS