In a random draw yesterday, the Taipei District Court selected Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) to preside over legal proceedings for the fourth round of indictments issued against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and others.
Chou was the judge who previously ordered Chen’s release from detention. However, last December, a panel of judges replaced Chou with Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓). The change at the time prompted allegations of procedural flaws and political interference.
Chen’s office then petitioned the Council of Grand Justices for an interpretation on whether the switch of judges was constitutional. The council ruled that the switch did not violate the Constitution.
Tsai repeatedly ruled to keep Chen in detention, and on Sept. 11 sentenced him and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), to life in prison, as well as a total fine of NT$500 million (US$15.5 million).
Because of the prior controversy surrounding the switching of judges, the Taiwan High Court and the Taipei District Court has recently begun manually drawing the names of judges in front of the media to emphasize that the process is transparent and random. Before the incident, the courts used a computer to randomly select judges without media in attendance.
Although Chou ruled to release Chen from prison, he no longer has the power to rule on whether to extend Chen’s detention because the decision is up to the Taiwan High Court, where corruption and embezzlement charges against the former president are undergoing a second round of legal proceedings.
There was a one-in-three chance of Chou being randomly selected to preside over charges issued by prosecutors last Thursday. The other two judges on the panel, also made through a draw of lots, are Lin Po-hung (林柏泓) and Ho Chiao-mei (何俏美).
The prosecutors’ indictment last Thursday said the former first couple took bribes totaling NT$610 million from the Cathay and Yuanta financial groups to facilitate the groups’ acquisitions of other Taiwanese banks to form new financial holding companies.
Others on the indictment list include Chen’s son, and daughter-in-law Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), his wife Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), Wu’s elder brother Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂), Wu Ching-mao’s wife, Chen Chun-ying (陳俊英), and Yuanta Group founder Rudy Ma (馬志玲).
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS