Reversing a "not guilty" decision by a district court, the Taiwan High Court ruled yesterday that a formerly honored police officer was guilty of handing over both illegal drugs and a stolen car to his informant, and sentenced him to three years in prison.
The court found Chen Feng-sheng (
Chen was selected just last year as a "model" officer, and was recently serving at the Taipei City police headquarters.
PHOTO: CHUNG KUO-WEI
The court also found that one day after giving the pack of heroin to the informant, Chen handed over to Wang a stolen car in his custody, which Chen claimed was intended to save Wang from members of a gangster ring which had been busted by Chen based on Wang's tips.
Chen was sentenced to three years in prison for possession of illegal drugs and abuse of authority to cater personal interest.
Told of the high court decision yesterday, Chen said it is more difficult for him to accept the ruling than to die.
"Had any private interests been involved in the case, I wouldn't even say a word if they sentenced me to death," Chen said.
"But what I did was to fulfill my official duty, to combat crime. I was convicted for what I believe is right. And that's impossible for me to accept."
Police officers, once detained on suspicion of misconduct, are suspended from office, and sometimes even dismissed.
Unusually, however, the Taipei City police headquarters did not impose disciplinary punishment on Chen, and allowed him to stay in office even after criminal charges were brought against him in 1997.
Chen, convicted yesterday on two counts, was given a ten-month prison term for possession of illegal drugs, and a two-and-half year sentence for abusing his authority to cater to personal interests.
Collectively, the high court sentenced Chen to three years in prison and Chen was only allowed to appeal the conviction on the count of abuse of authority.
The drug possession conviction, by Taiwan law, can only be appealed to the Supreme Court by public prosecutors. Chen, who was known among police for his boldness in crime investigations, is now facing an immediate prison sentence if public prosecutors in charge of his case decide not to appeal the high court ruling.
Investigations into the case have as yet failed to find the heroin in question. As crucial evidence, prosecutors used a video tape which secretly recorded Chen's confessions during a police interrogation.
But in September 1998, the Taipei District Court acquitted Chen after challenging the legality of the secretly-recorded video tape, and refusing to judge Chen's guilt in absence of other supportive evidence. The high court, however, overturned the district court decision yesterday, suggesting content of the video is "a statement out of court" and could be seen as supportive, but not primary, evidence against Chen.
It is common practice for police to work closely with informants in combatting crime. However, there is a fine line between the legality and illegality of the practice as police often risk committing crimes themselves during their close contacts with their informants.
The use of informants is widely accepted among police who attempt to track down organized crimes, and drug dealers in particular.
Liu Cheng-wu (
"Drug rings use amazingly advanced equipment. In comparison, we investigators have few resources," Liu said. "Use of informants, though disputable, is absolutely essential to crime investigations. To reduce the risks of the practice, the authorities concerned should map out rules of game as soon as possible."
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