Premier-designate Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday said that the deportation of 32 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China from Malaysia on Saturday is detrimental to Taiwan’s judicial power, adding that he hopes both sides of the Taiwan Strait could demonstrate goodwill in dialogue and push for a better joint crime-fighting mechanism.
Lin made the remarks during a news conference at the Bank of Taiwan Training Institute on Yangmingshan in Taipei, where the second and final day of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) new Cabinet consensus camp was being held.
“The key issues remain how to improve cross-strait cooperation on fighting crime and addressing problems in dealing with fraud cases, such as convictions, estimation of illicit gains and identification of the people affected,” Lin said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
These issues require clear communication and a well-devised cooperative mechanism across the Taiwan Strait, Lin said.
Lin said the act of sending Taiwanese to China when they should be deported to their home nation could damage Taipei’s judicial power, a problem that clearly cannot be addressed by the 2009 Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議), which he said needs adjusting to fit current practices.
“The new DPP government would head in this direction, engaging in clear communication with Beijing in the hope that both sides can establish amicable interactions to improve the crime-fighting system,” Lin said.
The 32 deported suspects were among a group of 52 Taiwanese arrested in Malaysia in March on suspicion of telecommunications fraud.
The other 20 suspects were deported to Taiwan on April 15 at Taipei’s request, but were released shortly afterward due to a lack of evidence at the time.
Prosecutors on April 21 detained 18 of them and banned the other two from leaving the nation.
Asked to comment on reports China cited what it called “light treatment” of the 20 suspects to pressure Malaysia to deport the group of 32 to China, Lin said it is to be determined whether that really was the reason behind Beijing’s action.
“Even if it was, Taiwan is a society based on the rule of law where little can be done to suspects in the absence of sufficient evidence,” Lin said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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