Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) yesterday announced he would step down after the Taipei District Court hours earlier found him guilty and sentenced him to 14 months in prison for leaking confidential information to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) about a controversial probe into claims of influence peddling last year.
Taipei District Court spokesperson Lai Chien-yi (賴劍毅) told a press conference that Huang was charged with three counts of violating the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法) and leaking classified information in violation of the Criminal Code, and that the district court had applied the heavier punishment — under the Communication Security and Surveillance Act — to convict Huang.
Lai said Huang was sentenced to five months, five months and six months respectively for the three violations, and that he would have to serve one year and two months in prison.
Photo: CNA
Huang is the first prosecutor-general to be indicted and convicted in the nation’s history.
He can appeal the ruling to the Taiwan High Court or pay a fine of NT$420,000 instead of serving the sentence.
Lai said Huang knew an investigation into allegations that funds were embezzled from Formosa Telecom Investment Co (全民電通) was still ongoing, but he broke the law when he briefed Ma on Aug. 31 last year. He gave Ma information gathered through a wiretap that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) had spoken with then-minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) and Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) in an attempt to dissuade a Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor from seeking an appeal in a breach of trust case against Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
Huang also provided Ma a written report on the investigation on that night, he added.
On Sept. 4, Huang also briefed Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) on the probe and provided him with a similar written report, Lai said.
The Special Investigation Division (SID) then held a press conference on Sept. 6 under Huang’s direction, where the SID released the tapped telephone conversations to the media, Lai said.
The court said that Huang had illegally leaked confidential information on three occasions.
Huang yesterday afternoon proclaimed his innocence and said in a statement that he felt deep regret about the ruling.
He said it was hard to believe that influence peddlers had not been punished, “while the people who uncovered the scandal were seriously punished.”
He added that he had made every effort to prevent politics from interfering in the judiciary.
Huang said he intended to keep his promise that he would resign if convicted in the first trial.
Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said the ministry respected the district court’s ruling and Huang’s decision to resign.
Additional reporting by AFP
Three cases of Candida auris, a fungus that can cause a yeast infection known as candidiasis in humans, have been reported in Taiwan over the past few years, but they did not display drug resistance, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said yesterday. Lo made the statement at a news conference in Taipei, one day after the Washington Post reported that the potentially deadly fungus is spreading in US hospitals. The fungus was first discovered in Japan in 2009 and poses a danger to immunocompromised people, with an estimated mortality rate of 30 to 60 percent, Lo
‘DIRE’: Taiwan would not engage in ‘dollar diplomacy,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, after China reportedly offered Honduras up to US$3 billion to establish relations The government yesterday recalled its ambassador to Honduras after the Central American nation sent its foreign minister to China, signaling that it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Suspicions concerning ties with Honduras are rife after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday last week wrote on Twitter that her country would pursue diplomatic ties with China. Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina traveled to China on Wednesday “to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations” on instructions from Castro, Reuters yesterday quoted Honduran presidential spokesman Ivis Alvarado as saying. The government “has decided to immediately recall the ambassador to Honduras
SWITCH TO BEIJING: The government severed diplomatic relations about an hour after Honduras announced the move, saying that no semi-official ties would be maintained Taiwan severed diplomatic ties with Honduras and ended all cooperation with the Central American country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, about an hour and a half after the Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Twitter at 8am Taiwan time that the nation would cut its ties with Taiwan. Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Wednesday sent Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina to Beijing to negotiate the establishment of diplomatic relations. She announced the plan on March 14 on Twitter. “To safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity, Taiwan is terminating diplomatic ties with Honduras with immediate effect” after communication with
MEDIA, SOCIETY FOCUS: Doublethink Lab said that Beijing is trying to coerce countries that rely on China economically to pursue policies in its favor China has stronger influence over Taiwan’s media and society than any other country, the Taipei-based Doublethink Lab think tank said yesterday, as it announced its China Index gauging Beijing’s global influence. Taiwan ranked 11th overall among 82 countries assessed, but first in terms of social and media influence, Doublethink Lab chairman Puma Shen (沈伯洋) told a news conference in Taipei. More than 200 experts and academics participated in the project, including some highly influential figures, Shen said. The index collects information from countries worldwide to gauge China’s influence and assess how Chinese policies affect them, Shen said. In terms of Chinese
RSS