Taipei Times editorial cartoon.Taiwan News and other news organizations are commenting on the seeming abuse of detention by the Ma Administration to go after Green officials.... the opening sentence is brilliant:
Since the right-wing Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) under President Ma Ying-jeou took office May 20, virtually all aspects of Taiwan's economic and society has lost vitality and energy with the exceptions of actions tilting toward China and a purge of officials of the former Democratic Progressive Party government.
Besides the family and close associates of former president Chen Shui-bian and the search by prosectors of three major financial holding companies, prosecutors have placed several current and former DPP officials under "preventative detention" for interrogation, including former interior minister Yu Cheng-hsien, Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen and former Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park chief administrator Lee Chieh-mu.
Under the Code of Criminal Procedures, prosecutors can apply for "investigative" or "pretrial" detention of an unindicted suspect for two months with a two month extension only in cases in which there is reasonable concern that the suspect will flee Taiwan, collude with other suspects or destroy material evidence.
However, in these cases, as well as in the cases of the "investigative detention" of two former aides of president Chen, prosecutors have supplied scant indication of having concrete evidence, even though the airwaves have been filled with speculative stories on the "scandals" complemented with sensationalist commentary from "famous mouths."
Taiwan News notes of the Chiayi case:
In the case of DPP Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen, who is rated as one of the best mayors in Taiwan, the Chiayi District Court decided Tuesday to reverse its previous decision and order Chen's detention incommunicado under suspicion of "seeking illegal gains" by divulging information on a public contract for a sewage system to a particular company in May 2007.
After a year and a half long investigation, prosecutors have been unable to provide an estimate of the alleged "illegal profits" that Chen was supposed to have gained or show how Chen could meaningfully "collude" with other defendants to alter county government documents.
The court's decision to accept these flawed arguments and give prosecutors up to four months to sweat a confession out of the DPP mayor is sufficient to lead observers to worry that judicial standards in Taiwan have gone back two decades or more in time.
Moreover, given the obvious political implications of Chen's possible removal in the run-up to critical mayoral elections next December, the timing of this action fuels suspicion that the goal is the liquidation of all DPP persons of influence regardless of innocence or guilt.
A month or so ago eight prosecutors held a press conference to announce that if they did not solve the Chen Shui-bian case, they would step down, a clear indicator of the politicization of the prosecutor's office. It also indicated that the prosecutors have no serious evidence of wrongdoing on Chen's part, or else they would have announced or leaked the evidence by now. Ominously, prosecutors are investigating an accusation against Chen that he took classified documents with him when he left office.
Taiwan presents many instances of parallel formal/gray market systems existing side by side, for example, the public schools and the cram schools. The Taipei Times points out the flip side of politicization of law enforcement (the formal side): gangster enforcers....
Following reports last week that Wang allegedly instigated an incident in which China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing (張銘清) fell over, media outlets reported on Monday that Wang’s life had been threatened by a suspected gangster who demanded that he offer an apology to Zhang.
Cable Channel CTI filmed as Huang Ju-yi (黃如意) sat next to Wang on a sofa and described to him how to present his apology, pounding him on the chest twice.
.....
If the threat against Wang is real, it should not be viewed as an isolated case. Wang would not be the only victim.
One of the benefits of this democracy is the right to free speech.
People can voice their ideas without having to live in fear of the consequences. Is Taiwan to return to a time when critics are taken away by KGB-like secret agents or gangsters?
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) record of close relations with organized crime has been well documented, and many of these gangs are closely tied to China.
The man who hit Wang on television was questioned and released on bail. He had been picked up in Kinmen trying to cross over to....China.
[Taiwan]
22 comments:
Why don't you move back to America if you are so scared of the new police state? Is anyone stopping you from walking down the street? Wang was rightly prosecuted. YEAH!!! I am so happy that his supporters who used violence were also prosecuted. YEAH!!!
Should corruption be ignore just because a political party "claim" to care about Taiwan independence? Chen Ming-wen was rightly prosecuted. He will have his day in the court. By the way, he was one of those Blue-to-Green politicians, a traitor by your political standard (or do you only give credit to politicians to turn from Blue to Green). If you don't trust Taiwan's judicial system, I suggest you leave Taiwan instead of bad mouthing Taiwan's judicial system.
What country allows a corrupt former president to run around and claim being a victim after it's been proven that he stashed away Buddha know how many million USD outside of Taiwan!!! Taiwanese are pissed that A-bian is not thrown into jail yet. I think Taiwan's judicial system might have been too weak by allowing A-bian to continue running around Taiwan. We are sick of listening to A-bian.
Police state? Fled to China? An anonymous comment in support of gangsters and putting people in jail before they're convicted? Who could've predicted?
Tim Maddog
To anon in the first reply...get a clue mate.
This is the start of a slippery slope and you should be worried no matter what your political affiliation.
BTW, stashing away millions of dollars outside Taiwan is not in itself a crime. Let him have his day in court and wait until a judgment has been handed down before condemning the man. Or do you know more than the prosecutors - if so, better hand over the information to them. Or a you a believer in Trial by (blue) Media?
During Chen's term in office many of his supporters complained that there was little to show for it as far as the symbolic representations of a pro-Taiwan administration went. At least not until the final 6 months. What many people failed to notice was the efforts made to depoliticize and neutralize the legal system and law enforcement. Within Chen's two terms Taiwan experienced a great deal of legal reorganization that put a premium on civil rights and the rule of law. Issues such as probable cause, procedural handling of evidence, interrogation, unlawful search and seizure, neutrality, procedure for discovery, were all visited and improved. Even such seemingly minute changes as seeing the accused standing on the same level as the prosecution in the courtroom rather than on a lower platform made great progress in extending the civil rights of Taiwanese citizens.
Under the old KMT system, had Chen been a cadre, he would be getting ready to hold a post right now. Remember when Soong was in the midst of his scandal and most Taiwanese brushed it off as that was expected from their leaders. I am not saying what Chen did was right... but his administration greatly advanced the rule of law and a civil society in Taiwan and now Ma is trying to make sure it is all undone.
p.s. anonymous
The correct word to express joy, happiness and celebration is "Yay!" not "Yeah!" Yeah is an expression of agreement and is quite out of context in your screed.
Can a gig as Forumosa moderator be far behind for this gentleman?
Anon - everybody has the right to care about the country they live in. Everybody has the right to be concerned about the country his relatives and children live in. Everybody has the right to discuss policies which have direct impact on his own life and liberty, and on the life and liberty of their families.
Taiwan is all in all a nice place, however - like any country in the world - it's hardly perfect. I'd suggest that it would make more sense to work on improving the judicial system of Taiwan rather than telling people who point out it's flaws, that they should leave. You'd have at least a chance to contribute something worthwhile for your country.
As for Chen: most democratic country allows those that are accused of crimes to proclaim their innocence. Obviously in some cases they will in fact not be innocent - however that's for the courts to decide, not for the prosecutors and not for his political opponents.
A great example of the progress made under the Chen administration might be the case of the Hsi Chi Trio. The three youth convicted and sentenced to death for a brutal murder. The three youth were arrested on testimony from a fourth suspect at the demand of the police and politicians to find more suspects to equal the brutality of the crime. The young men were subjected to police torture to extract confessions and much of the evidence was mishandled by the police, not recorded, not photographed, tampered with, not sealed or not tested. Many details of the investigation were leaked to the news media and many of the witnesses were subjected to police interference. The men were convicted of the crime based on the testimony of the fourth suspect who was executed after a quick trial...and their confessions made under duress, including electric shock applied to the testicles of one of the accused.
Under the Chen administration the case was re-opened and a new trial was conducted based on the emergence of new evidence that had been suppressed at prior trials, and the amazing recovery of the "lost" murder weapon. Many people, including several ranking KMT members, were against the retrial based on the "severity of the crime".
This is where I find it a bit analogous to the OJ Simpson trial. OJ probably did it and the jury found him not guilty. It was a severe crime and there were no other suspects. Still... By not following the rules of due process and the established protocols of handling evidence...the agents of law enforcement put every citizen in danger. In the USA, the founding fathers did not trust the state they created.
That is exactly what happened in the Hsi Chi case. Whether they were guilty or not is not for us to decide...
but if the agents of the state and the agents entrusted with upholding the constitution and safeguarding our rights are influenced by politics to undermine the processed that are put in place to protect us all... we are all in danger of being on the receiving end of an unjust system.
Chen's government set out to rectify this problem and made great gains... now it appears we're on our way back to the 1970's.
"What country allows a corrupt former president to run around and claim being a victim after it's been proven that he stashed away Buddha know how many million USD outside of Taiwan!!!"
Good question. Since you seem to be an expert on Taiwan's judicial system, maybe you can tell me why that former president hasn't been locked up yet and why, despite the resources that are being expended on him, nothing really substantial has stuck to him yet.
Actually, anon, if I do say so myself, your confidence in the correct workings of Taiwan's judicial system, if not your attitude, are Panglossian. Assuming Taiwan is the best of worlds, Taiwan's judicial system must be flawless...
Yes, 1st anon, people should be scared and worried.
Thomas Jefferson once said "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Now I realize he wasn't joking. If people don't pay attention the tree of liberty will die. There are a lot of examples around the world in which the government goes from better to worse. Liberal society became police or theocratic state. Democratic government went back to autocratic government. Check out the history of Nazi German and the current Russian situation to get an idea.
Given KMT's past record, you should be worried. Especially Ma, who has always represented the oppositions to democratization in the past. (He opposed presidential election but now he is elected...ironic).
anon with the long comments about Taiwan's judicial system:
Do you have references or links writings about changes in the judicial system under Chen? I would be highly interested in reading about them.
Meanwhile, some things never change--I remember attending a local protest and watching police video record the entire protest as well as about to talk to someone before realizing it was a plainclothes police officer.
There's a huge conflict there--the protesters were protesting city government policy and some were claiming that they had been asked to "come buy and drink tea" by the police. Actually, the city government claimed they were holding a community forum and there to listen. How do you know the police aren't recording attendees for later retribution?
Anyways, all that was under Ma Ying-jeou.
Update for Michael: Wang has now been indicted. It took about a week and comes right before Chen Yunlin is to come to Taiwan. The prosectutors are asking for over 1 year in jailtime.
I think everyone in Taiwan needs to report any civil rights violations by the police. We need to very carefully watch all the moves by this new government.
Police state? Fled to China? An anonymous comment in support of gangsters and putting people in jail before they're convicted? Who could've predicted?
Last time I checked, even US putting people in jail before conviction.
Good question. Since you seem to be an expert on Taiwan's judicial system, maybe you can tell me why that former president hasn't been locked up yet and why, despite the resources that are being expended on him, nothing really substantial has stuck to him yet.
Ever sued someone or being sued? Even a small case like a construction litigation could take over 5 years. What's the hurry?
You guys just sounded like a bunch of conservative Republicans crying liberal bias of the US legal system while we actually have conservative majority on the supreme court.
The Hsi Chi case is a great example of progress in criminal procedure. Some examples off the top of my head might be: Barring police from making random traffic stops and barring police from entering holel rooms without probable cause to investigate the felony of "adultery".
The level of bodily "interactions" the DPP officials exhibit to foreign envoy is too high by world standards. In most countries, harrassment of a foreign envoy would be eschewed and punished by law.
It can be debated as whether the sentencing for Councilman Wang is too heavy. Also the point about former President Chen's assialant, Hsu An Sheng's light sentencing is valid.
However, this does not mean City Councilman Wang should not be punished by law, or expediting the sentencing is not desirable. One wrong does not justify another wrong.
Arty the troll made a half-ass attempt to reply to my earlier comment:
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Last time I checked, even US putting people in jail before conviction.
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I didn't mention the US' disgusting human rights violations, but in any case, it's just as wrong when your dear Ma does it.
Tim Maddog
Except that in this case Zhang was not here as a "foreign envoy" but supposedly as a private citizen. If he chose to engage in that particular duplicity then he should not be afforded the extra protection given to official foreign representatives. Not that assault should be any more tolerable when directed toward a private citizen, but the conclusory statement that Wang "should be punished" seems to presume that he has already been convicted, instead of merely indicted. So much for the presumption of innocence. Also, if selectivity in "expediting" criminal investigations is politically-motivated, then it is in fact undesirable insomuch as it undermines the rule of law.
"In most countries, harrassment of a foreign envoy would be eschewed and punished by law."
In countries where the rule of law is cherished, harrassment in itself is usually not a crime in itself. The defendant must first be charged. So if I say to my coworker, "Nice hooters," I can't be punished unless she files charges.
I didn't mention the US' disgusting human rights violations, but in any case, it's just as wrong when your dear Ma does it.
Huh? I am not talking about what we have done last 8 years illegally jailing innocent people out of US territory. Even in US normal court preceding, we jail people during trail if deem necessary. Since US is one of few court systems that presumes innocent until proven guilty, you could be bailed out. I am not an expert in Taiwan's legal proceeding, but I assume in Taiwan it is much harder to have a bail set even for white collar crimes (I thought Taiwan is like England that you are guilty unless proven innocent). You are either thinking too much or too little, that's why you have to move from US to Taiwan, I guess (my low punch). :P
First they came for the leaders of the DPP
and I did not speak out
because I was not a member of the DPP.
Then they came for the indpendence activists
and I did not speak out
because I was not an activist.
Then they came for the self-identified Taiwnese
and I did not speak out
because I was a Chinese.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
(with apologies to Pastor Niemoller)
Arty continued his trolling:
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Even in US normal court preceding, we jail people during trail if deem necessary.
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... having ignored the target of the anonymous trolling that initiated this:
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Taiwanese are pissed that A-bian is not thrown into jail yet.
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Outside of the imaginations of certain anonymous commenters and other supporters of authoritarianism, it is not "necessary" to throw A-bian into jail prior to an evidence-based conviction.
Tim Maddog
For anon (at 12:09 AM) who asked about reform of Taiwan's criminal procedure, here's an article that gives some background on changes made in the past decade, although I would've hoped for more specifics.
http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/site/Tr/ct.asp?xItem=833&ctNode=119
to the first comment up there..Not a smart start by telling people to go back to whereever. If you're Taiwanese, honey, you're also an immigrant. We ain't telling you to move back to anywhere.
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