Lin Cho-shui analyzes LTH indictment

Lin Cho-shui, former DPP politician and current political commentator, sets out some of the problems with the Lee Teng-hui indictment:

All the evidence presented in Lee’s indictment is identical to that set out in the charges against former National Security Bureau (NSB) chief accountant Hsu Ping-chiang (徐炳強). Hsu was found not guilty, so there is no good reason to indict Lee on the same grounds.

Based on the principle of double jeopardy, the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) states that a case in which a final judgement has been reached can only be retried if it meets certain conditions, such as the original evidence or testimony was false, new evidence has been discovered or the prosecutors, investigators or judges in the original case acted unlawfully or negligently. If these conditions are not met, the case cannot be brought to trial again.

This regulation exists to prevent malicious prosecutors from heaping endless litigation on a person. The principle of double jeopardy also preserves the order and stability of the legal system by ensuring that the courts do not get bogged down with frivolous cases.

The case against Lee is based on the same grounds as Hsu’s indictment. The evidence is the same and the conduct of the original prosecution and trial has not been found to have been in any way unlawful, so the case does not meet any of the conditions required for a retrial.

This is a long, ringing defense of Lee and a scathing denunciation of the prosecution and should be read in its entirety.  It has a problem that the Taipei Times editors should have spotted and removed:

It was correct to indict former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for instances of blatant corruption. It is true that the president’s state affairs fund is much larger than a mayor’s special allowance fund and that Chen and his family employed all sorts of means to misappropriate government money.

Chen Shui-bian was found innocent of misappropriating government funds -- the prosecutors lost the trial and then two appeals on the charge of embezzling the state affairs fund. It would be nice if Lin's antipathy to Chen was smacked down by the editors before it lands the Taipei Times in legal trouble.

ADDED: Maddog comments insightfully below:

Shorter Lin Cho-shui (林濁水): "Despite their history of 'crying wolf' with charges against DPP officials, Itotally believe all of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) charges against Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁)."

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