Former National Science Council (NSC) deputy minister Shieh Ching-jyh (謝清志) yesterday filed a lawsuit against a prosecutor for malicious prosecution following his acquittal of corruption charges after a five-and-a-half year judicial ordeal.
Shieh, the first government official from the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration to be indicted on corruption charges in 2006, filed the lawsuit at the Taipei District Court against the Kaohsiung Prosecutors’ Office chief prosecutor, Kao Feng-chih (高峰祈), who was serving in the Tainan Prosecutors’ Office when Shieh was indicted.
Shieh told a press conference that he filed the suit so that “those who abused their judicial power would be held accountable.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Shieh, an aerospace engineering expert, was among 10 defendants indicted in December 2006 on corruption charges after Sheus Technologies Corp won a NT$8.05 billion (US$262 million) bid for a project to reduce the vibrations caused by high-speed trains that affected the Southern Taiwan Science Park.
He was ruled innocent on July 11 last year after prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove his guilt. Shieh was awarded NT$300,000 in compensation for his wrongful imprisonment, which comes to NT$5,000 per day for the 60 days he spent in detention.
Every element of malicious prosecution is present in Shieh’s case: the manufacturing of charges, witness intimidation, subornation of perjury, leaking investigation information to the media and inappropriate detention, among others, lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said.
Lin Yen-hsu (林延旭), who worked under Shieh at the council, said at the press conference that when he had been questioned, Kao had turned off the audio and video recording midway through the session and told Lin that he would be released once he gave testimony against Shieh. Lin said he rejected the deal.
The case is the fourth in a string of lawsuits filed by former DPP government officials or politicians who were acquitted of corruption charges against prosecutors and judges for abuse of power, including former DPP lawmaker Wu Ming-min (吳明敏), former presidential advisor Wu Li-pei (吳澧培) and former Tainan mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財).
The lawsuits are part of a bid to highlight the need for judicial reform being made by a group of self-proclaimed “judicial victims” who say they have been the targets of a campaign of political persecution against former officials of the previous DPP administration.
There have been at least 14 cases in which one or more former officials in the DPP administration have been charged with corruption, but were found not guilty.
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