The Supreme Court on Thursday demanded that a perjury case involving former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) be retried in the Taiwan High Court.
The High Court in August found Chen not guilty of inducing his aides to give false testimony with regards to his alleged misuse of a special state affairs fund.
The Supreme Court’s retrial demand came after an appeal by prosecutors.
The court said the high court failed to clearly state why Chen was ruled not guilty.
The High Court’s ruling in August overturned the one handed down by the Taipei District Court in July last year, when Chen was sentenced to two months in jail.
Chen was accused of abetting Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) and Lin Teh-hsun (林德訓) — who headed Chen’s office at different times during his tenure as president from 2000 to 2008 — to make false statements when prosecutors looked into his alleged misuse of the fund in 2006.
The prosecutors found that Chen had allegedly asked Ma and Lin to tell prosecutors that the state affairs fund was used in secret diplomatic operations rather than siphoned off into the first family’s pockets.
Chen also allegedly instructed the pair to deny that his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), had used invoices provided by other people to claim reimbursements from the fund, according to the prosecutors.
The High Court found that before Lin gave his testimony on Aug. 8, 2006, the prosecutors did not inform him that he had the right to refuse to testify.
Under the circumstances, it did not constitute perjury even if Lin lied to prosecutors that day, the high court said.
Moreover, there was no evidence proving that Chen had instructed Lin and Ma to give false testimony, the court said.
Chen is currently serving a 18-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS