The judicial system in Taiwan, in particular the way prosecutors and judges conduct investigations and trials, has long been used as a “shameless” tool for political persecution, of which the best example is the case of imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), activists said yesterday.
A group of law professors, physicians and activists made the comments at a book-launching ceremony, organized by the publisher Taiwan Association of University Professors (TAUP).
The book, titled Judicial justice and human rights — the Chen Shui-bian case (司法正義與人權 — 從扁案談起), collected eight theses that examine Chen’s case from various legal points of view, including defendants’ rights, the president’s state affairs fund, presidential authority and correlation between politics and justice, among others.
“I would say that Chen’s cases are ‘benchmark cases’ of transitional justice in Taiwan because they have been political cases rather than legal cases, as well as the result of turning the judicial system into a political instrument, from the first minute,” said one of the authors, National Taipei University professor Chen Yao-hsiang (陳耀祥).
The same judge heard Chen’s state affairs fund case and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) special allowance case, which were essentially similar, but handled the trials differently and handed down drastically different rulings, he cited as an example.
“The trial against Chen was like a trial against a war criminal, rather than a citizen,” he said.
Participants at the launch said the “illegal and absurd practices” during Chen’s prosecution included pre-trial detention, extended detention for unconvincing reasons, prosecutors demanding that a witness provide false testimony and the arraignment of Chen’s three-year-old granddaughter as a witness.
The former president’s lawyer Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍) said that the judicial system is the only institution that has not yet been democratized, as evidenced by the malpractice in Chen’s trials.
Turning to the issue of Chen’s medical parole, Aletheia University law professor Wu Chin-ching (吳景欽) said the Ministry of Justice has been sitting on the issue and ignoring human rights.
Wu said it is not an issue only for the former president, because records show that about 600 of the 900 prisoners who were granted medical parole in the past never made it back to prison.
“They all died. They were already very ill and very close to death prior to their parole,” Wu said, adding that Chen’s case also indicated the necessity of prison reform.
Taipei District Court judge Hung Ying-hua (洪英花) said the ministry has not reacted to a Control Yuan correction in September last year of its failure to establish standard operating procedures and qualification criteria for medical parole.
National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who was on Chen Shui-bian’s private medical team, urged the government to establish clear criteria for prisoners’ medical paroles.
“Only an authoritarian regime would prefer ambiguity over clear regulations, because that is what allows it to play tricks,” Ko said.
Chen’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), said he was glad law experts have spoken on his father’s cases, which he said was a “cruel political vendetta.”
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS