The Ministry of Justice yesterday denied reports that the judge in former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) embezzlement and corruption case would be switched again.
The denial came after Chinese-language weekly Next Magazine reported that a recent meeting of the Council of Grand Justices reached a consensus that the decision to relieve Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) of Chen’s case and hand it over to Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) was unconstitutional.
The case may be returned to Chou, and Chen could be released from detention as early as next month, the magazine reported.
When Chou was presiding over Chen’s case last year, he twice ruled against detaining Chen, saying that Chen had no opportunity to flee because as a former president he was constantly protected and escorted by special agents.
However, when the case was switched to Tsai, he repeatedly ruled to keep the former president behind bars because he said Chen might collude with witnesses or try to abscond.
In December last year, a panel of judges ordered that Chou be replaced by Tsai, who would preside over the four new cases filed against the former president. The switch was controversial and skeptics questioned whether the decision to merge the trials was procedurally flawed and politically motivated.
Chen’s lawyer Shih Yi-ling (石宜琳) yesterday said he would be glad to see the grand justices rule Chen’s detainment was against the law.
“If the grand justices rule that the former president’s case was procedurally flawed, it would have a positive impact on litigation rights,” Shih said.
In response, the ministry denied reports of any plans to hand the cases back to Chou.
“The grand justices are still in the process of gathering and sifting through the information,” ministry spokesperson Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said.
He said there was no timeline on when the grand justices would announce their ruling.
When asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said: “They [grand justices] should not make a constitutional interpretation that contradicts mainstream public opinion.”
Saying that 10 of the 15 Grand Justices were nominated by the former president, Lee said: “This is not the time for you to repay [Chen] for his nomination.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
The US House of Representatives yesterday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which stipulates that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican US Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude China from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China
Garbage and recycling schedules are to vary from Saturday through Sunday next week over the Lunar New Year holiday period. The following collection information is from the governments of the six special municipalities. Taipei Regular service: Sunday to Monday next week. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Extra service: Friday next week. Regular service resumes: Saturday next week. New Taipei City Extra service: Sunday. Adjusted collection time: Monday next week — garbage collection is to begin in the morning and end at 6pm. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Regular service resumes: Friday next week. Note: Garbage can be dropped off at 70
Taiwan’s Li Yu-hsiang performs in the men’s singles figure skating short program at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Li finished 24th with a score of 72.41 to advance to Saturday’s free skate portion of the event. He is the first Taiwanese to qualify for the free skate of men’s singles figure skating at the Olympics since David Liu in 1992.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
RSS