Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), engulfed in a wiretapping row, has set a record in the nation’s judicial history as there have been close to 100 litigation cases filed against him since the beginning of last month, sources at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and the Taipei District Court said.
Sources at the prosecutors’ office said that most of the cases involve charges of dereliction of duty, divulging classified information and violating the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法).
As of Thursday, the prosecutors’ office has received 86 motions against Huang, which have been assigned to 14 prosecutors. Reportedly, a common friendly greeting among prosecutors in the past weeks is: “Are you now handling a case on the prosecutor-general?”
A clerk, who wished to remain anonymous, said they have never before encountered such a buzz of activity in the filing of legal motions and litigation against one individual and that the office has been overcome by the number of litigation documents being received.
At the Taipei District Court, eight cases have been filed against Huang, which have been assigned to eight judges.
The head prosecutor at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, Chang Chieh-chin (張介欽), has the most cases under his jurisdiction, 53.
A spokesperson said the office has filed requests with the Special Investigation Division (SID) at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and the Taipei District Court to examine 30 documents related to authorization for the SID to carry out wiretapping.
“We had to look closely at the documents to see if the SID misled and deceived the courts in order to obtain approval for its wiretapping,” the spokesperson said.
Officials said that Chang is holding closed-door meetings daily with chief prosecutor Yang Jyh-yeu (楊治宇) and deputy chief prosecutor Huang Mou-hsin (黃謀信) to discuss the progress of their investigations.
An unnamed inside source said the prosecutors are now divided into “dove” and “hawk” camps, while noting the doves may win out, and therefore Huang could yet escape criminal prosecution.
However, the “hawk” camp sees Huang’s meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 — before the legal authorization for wiretapping legislators terminated on Sept. 5 — to discuss information gathered from the wiretaps as clear evidence that Huang divulged classified information.
The “dove” camp maintains that it is a case concerning the public interest and therefore it was not a criminal offense for Huang to report the wiretapping to Ma.
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