Taipei judges Liu Fang-tsu (劉方慈), Ku Cheng-te (顧正德) and Huang Shao-hung (黃紹紘) yesterday dropped forgery and corruption charges against five former senior Navy officers for their involvement in the Lafayette procurement scandal.
“The case remains classified as it involves national security. I therefore cannot elaborate on the reasons behind the verdict,” Liu said.
Liu, the presiding judge, made the remarks while handing down the first verdict at 4pm yesterday.
The defendants were former vice admiral Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明), former rear admiral Wang Chin-sheng (王琴生), former captain Kang Shih-chun (康世淳), former captain Hsuan Peng-lai (宣蓬萊) and former commander Cheng Chih-po (程志波).
Lei, Wang, Kang and Cheng were present for the verdict, with more than 50 people — including defense counsel, reporters and civilians — in the courtroom.
Former vice admiral Yao Neng-chun (姚能君) was also a defendant in the case, but charges were dropped after his death on March 16, 2004.
PROSECUTOR’S WORDS
Speaking on behalf of defendants after the trial, Lei said that State Public Prosecutor General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), who headed the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office at the height of the scandal, opposed the indictments against them at the time.
Yesterday’s verdict proved Huang was right, he said.
Lei called on prosecutors not to appeal.
“This case has dragged for nine years, during which time we were not allowed to defend ourselves because of gag orders and the fact that the case touches on national security — all of this despite the fact that we were falsely accused and attacked,” Lei said.
“I am happy that the judges confirmed our innocence. They also proved that we had nothing to do with any crime,” he said.
Prosecutors had yet to provide a response at press time yesterday.
INDICTMENT
The five defendants, including Yao, were indicted on charges of forgery and corruption on July 5, 2001.
The indictment said the Navy had inflated the price of the six Lafayette-class frigates purchased 19 years ago and illegally directed NT$10.8 billion (US$337 million) to French manufacturer Thomson-CSF (now know as Thales).
The officers were accused of violating Article 4-1 of the Statute for the Punishment of Corruption (貪污治罪條例) and Article 213 and 216 of the Criminal Code.
Along with the indictment, Lei faced 14 years in jail, Yao and Kang 12 years, while Wang and Cheng were looking at 10-year sentences.
No sentence has been recommended for Hsuan and prosecutors did not elaborate on the indictment.
The defendants denied all the charges from the beginning, saying they were doing their job and trying to purchase the best weapons systems for the Navy.
Last month, a Paris-based court of arbitration ordered French group Thales to compensate Taiwan for unauthorized commissions in the deal.
Additional reporting by CNA
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