Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday fought back after reports that Control Yuan member Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) plans to question Taipei District Court Judge Tang Yue (唐玥) over the High Court’s decision to acquit Ma in July.
While stumping for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates in the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections in Hsinchu County yesterday, Ma berated Chen for the planned questioning of Tang.
Chen would be seriously interfering with the justice system, Ma said.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
Ma was acquitted of charges that he leaked classified information and breached telecommunications security law when dealing with wiretaps of two top lawmakers in 2013.
Chen has accused judges involved in the case of abusing the principle of judicial discretion and of passing judgement based on their political stance and personal bias.
Then-prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), who passed the information on to Ma, was found guilty, but did not have to serve a 15-month sentence and paid a fine instead, Chen said on Tuesday.
Chen has made statements about alleged misconduct, failures and corruption in the justice system, and the perception that judges favor wealthy people who hold political power.
“We can see from many cases … that Taiwan’s judiciary is not the last line of defense when it comes to upholding justice for the people. It is the preserve of conservative forces, the final stronghold of the one party-state’s political ideology,” Chen said, referring to the KMT.
Chen said that if there is no power authorized to monitor the justice system, then “judicial independence” is in reality “judicial dictatorship.”
The Judges’ Association of the Republic of China, as well as other organizations for judges and judiciary officials, have launched a petition protesting Chen’s remarks and released a statement saying that they would protect judicial independence from tampering by Chen and other Control Yuan members.
Chen served as a top aide to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), and was deputy Taipei mayor and Democratic Progressive Party secretary-general.
He has been highly critical of the justice system, as it found Chen Shui-bian guilty of corruption, while Ma has been consistently cleared of corruption charges.
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS