The Judicial Yuan yesterday said it would immediately suspend a High Court judge who was photographed meeting former Taitung County commissioner Wu Chun-li (吳俊立) while his case is under review.
Wu was charged with corruption while serving as a Taitung County councilor in 1999.
In 2002, the Taitung District Court sentenced him to 16 years in prison, but the Taiwan High Court’s Hualien branch reduced the sentence to seven years and eight months in 2003. Wu has appealed the ruling. The case is currently under review by the Taiwan High Court’s Hualien branch.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that the Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ) ethics committee recently discovered that Judge Lin Teh-sheng (林德盛) visited Wu’s home while the case was being reviewed at the High Court. Lin is one of the judges assigned to the case.
Investigators suspect that Lin may have accepted bribes from Wu in exchange for influencing the outcome of the judicial review in Wu’s favor.
Wu was placed under investigation in May after being suspected of having relations with various individuals involved with the case.
Aside from allegedly meeting Wu, it was also reported that Lin may be having an extramarital affair. Lin has recently been photographed visiting an unmarried female friend during his lunch break.
Lin yesterday denied the allegations and said he would cooperate with the investigation.
Judicial Yuan spokesperson Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said the Judicial Yuan had suspended Lin and reported the case to the Control Yuan so that impeachment proceedings can begin.
If Lin is found guilty of engaging in illegal activities or adversely affected the reputation of the prosecutorial and judicial system, he will be punished accordingly, Hsieh said.
Because Lin is still being probed by prosecutors and investigators, Hsieh was not able to elaborate on the details of the case.
At a separate setting, Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) said the ministry would investigate the matter and punish any wrongdoers.
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