The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday said that it would propose stricter rules for the imprisonment of people convicted of corruption, saying that low-security prison camps have almost become a “paradise” for the corrupt.
With their connections, powerful people charged with corruption have often managed to get transferred to prison camps, despite not necessarily meeting the criteria for a transfer, NPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said.
According to regulations, inmates are allowed to be transferred to such facilities only when there is evidence that they regret committing the crime, he said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
However, authorities have often held a loose standard when reviewing applications, he said, adding that statistics showed that most of the inmates at prison camps are corruption convicts.
“Inmates at prison camps not only live more comfortably and are granted weekend outings to go home, but also enjoy significantly reduced prison terms,” Huang said.
Once an inmate is transferred to a prison camp, their term is typically reduced by half, he added.
The NPP is to propose amendments to the Prison Camp Act (外役監條例) that would require people convicted of corruption or serious embezzlement to return their illicit gains to qualify for a transfer to prison camps, Huang said.
The amendment would also ban them from receiving reduced prison terms after a transfer, he said.
In addition, the party is to propose an amendment to the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) to ensure that employees of state-funded companies would also be punished for corruption, he added.
In 2001, former Central Broadcasting System (CBS) chairwoman Gloria Chu (朱婉清) jumped bail and fled to the US after being charged with embezzling NT$16 million (US$518,756 at the current exchange rate) from the company, Huang said.
Chu never returned the money, but after the statute of limitations on the charges expired in 2013, she returned to Taiwan and held a banquet in Taipei, he said.
“CBS is funded by the government and managed by a chairperson appointed by the government, but the prosecutor only charged Chu with embezzlement, which has a much shorter statute of limitations than a breach of the Anti-Corruption Act,” he said.
While the prosecutor could have charged her with corruption, the act does not clearly define public servants and therefore created “leeway for the powerful to take advantage of,” Huang said.
The proposed amendment would eliminate existing vagueness about public servants and make the act applicable to chairpersons and employees of government-funded companies with responsibilities related to public affairs, he said.
“Prison camps have almost become a paradise for corruption convicts,” NPP Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said.
Although Chu’s case was years ago, it would not be the only case if authorities continue their overly lenient approach, he said, adding that he hopes the Legislative Yuan would soon review the proposals.
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