The Taipei Times reported on another suggestive event today -- suggestive in that, rule for Chen, and you'll find yourself on the short end of the administrative stick:What happened to the man who allegedly bribed Chen Shui-bian in the Longtan land deal? Nothing, of course (reading the first page of that article will make your blood boil). What happened to the prosecutors who leaked information to the media? Nothing, of course. Chen's lawyer, Cheng Wen-lung, was hit with disciplinary charges, though. What happened to the prosecutors involved in the crazy skit attacking Chen Shui-bian (Jerome Cohen) Nothing, of course. Remember the group of prosecutors who held a press conference to announce that they would pursue the Chen case to the bitter end -- an apparent admission that not only were they involved in a vendetta, but that they did not have any evidence either. Nothing happened to them too.A Taipei District Court judge who found former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), not guilty in a bank merger case was indicted yesterday by Taipei prosecutors on suspicion of negligently leaking the name of a witness to the public.
Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) and his secretary, Liu Lee-ying (劉麗英), were charged with malfeasance for being negligent in the disclosure of a witness’ name who was involved in a case involving illegal drug production and transportation heard by Chou, Taipei prosecutors said.
Chou and Liu were found to have failed to seal a classified document which had witness names on it. As a result, after a lawyer for the defendant in the case, surnamed Lu, read the document and told Lu about the matter, the witness was threatened and beaten by Lu, prosecutors said.
Last month, Chou became the target of some pan-blue political commentators when he, citing insufficient evidence, acquitted Chen and Wu of charges that they laundered money and took bribes from bankers in exchange for manipulating bank mergers.
Chou said in the Chen-Wu -ruling that the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例) states that a public official violates the law by taking bribes in exchange for decisions or policies that favor the bribers, but according to the Constitution, the president’s duties do not include overseeing bank mergers, so Chen therefore would have been unable to receive money from banks and reciprocate by helping their merger proposals.
But don't worry, there's no pattern here.
UPDATE: Judge critical of procedures in the Chen case, and published article criticizing the swapping of judges in that case, found unfit to be a chief judge.
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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.
For the KMT judicial reform means molding the judiciary to serve the interests of the party-state. It is the exact opposite of the process that is required to promote judicial independence and improve the quality of judges and prosecutors.
ReplyDeleteOh the irony that it coincides with the coldest weather of the year.
ReplyDeleteI think the style of your blogging on political subjects is so emotional and subjective - aren't you concerned you will just end up preaching to the converted ?
ReplyDeleteIf instead you want to bring people over to your (possibly very reasonable) conclusions you need to present facts in a balanced way that ultimately supports your argument!
The reason I say this is I so often am interested in reading about many political topics you post, but never get through them due to the tiresome emotive appeals you make to the reader. Also you go to an almost trivial level of nit-picking detail sometimes which tends to muddy your argument.
Just my two cents.
Damn...now they really cross the line. But what can we do?
ReplyDeleteThe reason I say this is I so often am interested in reading about many political topics you post, but never get through them due to the tiresome emotive appeals you make to the reader. Also you go to an almost trivial level of nit-picking detail sometimes which tends to muddy your argument.
ReplyDeleteI hardly know how to respond to a complaint that alleges I engage in emotive appeals and nit-picking detail. Surely the latter would cancel out the former.
But thanks, I guess, for reading! You can always enjoy all the pretty pictures if you cant stand the political commentary.
Michael
The lure of R.O.C…..
ReplyDelete"The effect of violent dislike between groups has always created an indifference to the welfare and honor of the state." (Thomas B. Macaulay)
Conspiracy, invasion by Chinese forces and eventually… "Glorious Revolution"?
I hardly know how to respond to a complaint that alleges I engage in emotive appeals and nit-picking detail. Surely the latter would cancel out the former.
ReplyDeleteNot really. Take for example the complaints made by some Republicans during the American presidential campaign about Obama not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. These complaints were both nit-picking details and an emotive appeals.
Unlike McNolty, I do not have trouble reading through you're whole posts, but I do agree with McNolty that some improvement could be made (not that I could do any better).
If you're blog were about America it wouldn't bother me as much. But sadly the availability of news from Taiwan in English is pretty limited. I often learn details on your blog that just don't seem to be available in English anywhere else. But those details are of limited use to me because the emotion and lack of objectivity leave me believing important details from the other side of the story are being left out.
I know your blog isnt' a newspaper, but it is a source of news. Making it source that people can really rely on would likely pull in more readers and would create more respect and influence for your opinions.
But those details are of limited use to me because the emotion and lack of objectivity leave me believing important details from the other side of the story are being left out.
ReplyDeletePlease identify stories with important details left out.
Good luck with that.
Until then, fuck off, and find another blog.
Michael
To continue, why don't you honestly take a look at the blog you're reading, Readin and McNolty. Look at the number of corrections made. Look at the number of times I point to or bring into the post comments that disagree with mine. Look at the work that goes into representing information that doesn't agree with my POV.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that the problem isn't my lack of balance. It's your reading comprehension.
Again, both of you can fuck off until you get some remedial reading lessons.
Michael