Saying he was innocent of charges brought against him by Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday made his first appearance in court as a defendant since leaving office.
Ker accused Ma of contravening the Criminal Code, the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊監察保護法) and the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in connection with a wiretapping case in 2013.
Ker alleges that Ma leaked secret information to then-premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and then- Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), solicited former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) to disclose the details of an ongoing investigation and damaged Ker’s reputation by implicating Ker in an alleged case of influence-peddling in the judiciary.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
At the center of the case are claims that Huang leaked confidential information to Ma regarding an ongoing investigation into allegedly improper lobbying involving Ker and then-legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The allegations were tied to an effort to oust Wang from the KMT and thereby the speakership in what became known as the “September Strife.”
During the hearing at the Taipei District Court, Ma stressed his innocence and said that Ker filed the charges to distract public attention from his attempt to persuade prosecutors not to appeal a court ruling that found Ker not guilty of an embezzlement charge.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
“I did not commit any crime, and I want to emphasize again that no one should solicit others to influence the judiciary over an ongoing case, which damages judicial integrity and pollutes the purity of the judiciary,” Ma said.
“Whatever should not be done should not be done. It [seeking to influence the judiciary] still should not be done even if [Ker] filed the charges against me to divert the public’s attention,” he said.
Ma’s lawyers denied that Ma incited Huang to leak information, saying Huang’s criminal actions had nothing to do with Ma.
They cited a report and a news release issued by prosecutors, which said that the alleged influence-peddling did cause the prosecutor in charge of Ker’s embezzlement case to forfeit the appeal, which they said proved that Ma’s statements about Ker did not constitute libel.
“I am confident in my innocence and I expect the court to be fair,” Ma said as he left the court following the two-hour hearing.
Ker called on Ma to admit to his mistakes as a better legal strategy.
“I urge Ma to show moral character and admit his mistakes, which is a lifeline for him and a lifeline for Taiwan’s constitutional mechanism,” the DPP lawmaker said.
Ma and Huang acted against the Constitution and the law, and the trial would be of historic importance to the nation’s constitutional system, he said.
“In a democratic country, a president [engaging in wiretapping and judicial intervention] should have already stepped down. How does he have the face to debate the case in court?” Ker said before the hearing.
“I believe if Ma voluntarily placed himself on a travel ban, history would applaud him,” Ker said.
During the hearing, Ker’s lawyers asked the court to prohibit Ma from leaving the nation, but the judge said the request would have to be handled later.
The next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10.
The Taiwan High Court last year sentenced Huang to one year and three months for several criminal offenses, including leaking classified information, although the sentence could be commuted to fines.
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