Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) violated the Constitution and abused his presidential authority when he leaked confidential information obtained from a wiretap in a case that was under judicial review, prosecutors and lawyers said yesterday as the Taiwan High Court began hearing an appeal of a lower court ruling in March that found Ma not guilty.
The Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said it had determined there were sufficient grounds to appeal the district court’s ruling in a libel case filed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
One of Ker’s attorneys, Tseng Chin-yuan (曾勁元), said it was wrong for Ma to decide that he had the constitutional right as president to provide consultations on a dispute involving two or more of the branches of government, leading to what Tseng called “catastrophic harm” to the Constitution and the nation.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Ma’s defense in the first trial used that interpretation to shield violations of the law, as Ma discussed with then-state prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) leaked confidential information relating to a judicial probe into an influence peddling case, Tseng said.
Attorneys representing the two sides argued on varying interpretations regarding Article 44 of the Constitution, which states: “In cases of disputes involving two or more Yuans other than those for which provisions are made in this Constitution, the president may call a meeting of the presidents of the Yuans concerned for consultation with a view to reaching a solution.”
Prosecutors yesterday said the not guilty verdict was the result of a wrongful interpretation of Article 44, which had contravened the normative understanding of the law, and they called on the Taiwan High Court judges to convict Ma.
Chen I-ming (陳一銘), another lawyer for Ker, said Ma had caused grave damage to the Constitution, as based on earlier legal interpretations, the president can only apply his authority for consulting on disputes between the Yuans when there is no other recourse to settle the dispute.
“However, it was not so for this case,” Chen said.
Ma was worried at the time about the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan boycotting the state budget, or potentially using other administrative procedures to stall the legislative process, Chen said.
Ma spoke on his own behalf yesterday, saying he had been found not guilty through all the previous rulings on the case, and the Taiwan High Court should rule so again.
Ker accused Ma of aggravated libel after Ma criticized him during a news conference on Sept. 11, 2013, for alleged involvement in influence peddling,
Ma had labeled Ker’s alleged actions as “shameful.”
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