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Court orders Lin
detained in corruption probe
DOUBLE STANDARD? Unlike Chen Shui-bian, Lin was
not handcuffed when taken to the Taipei District Court after allegedly
confessing to some of the charges against him
By Rich Chang and Ho Cheng-hsu / Staff reporters, with CNA
Former Executive Yuan
secretary-general Lin Yi-shih, arms folded, is escorted to the Taipei District
Court yesterday morning, where the Special Investigation Division applied to
detain him over a corruption case.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The Taipei District Court yesterday
granted the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) the
right to detain former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) for
two months in connection with a corruption investigation.
The court made its decision after almost seven hours of deliberation.
The SID had asked the court to detain Lin after prosecutors said Lin admitted to
taking bribes from a company.
SID spokesman Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達) told a press conference that after a 12-hour
questioning session that did not end until 4:10am yesterday, prosecutors
concluded Lin might collude with others to destroy evidence, so they requested
the court order he be held incommunicado.
Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥), head of Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司), a metal-recycling company,
has accused Lin of accepting a bribe of NT$63 million (US$2.15 million) to help
him secure procurement contracts from China Steel Corp (CSC, 中油) and two of its
subsidiaries in 2010, and of asking for a further NT$83 million this year.
Chen Chi-hsiang was questioned and released without bail by prosecutors on
Saturday. Lin’s wife, Peng Ai-chia (彭愛佳), a TV anchorwoman, was also summoned on
Sunday afternoon and was released after two hours of questioning.
The SID spokesman yesterday said Lin was involved in two charges, including
accepting a bribe and demanding a bribe.
Chen Hung-ta said Lin confessed to some parts of the charges during the
questioning, but added that his confession would require further verification.
On Friday, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) told a
press conference that he was given an audio recording of a telephone
conversation between Chen Chi-hsiang and Lin on March 10 this year. In the
recording, Chao alleged that Lin not only asked Chen to give him NT$83 million,
but also instructed Chen to give him the money in three installments.
The SID said Chen Chi-hsiang had handed over the audio recording to prosecutors,
who used it during their questioning.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lai Su-ju (賴素如), who
served as Lin’s attorney and accompanied him during prosecutors’ questioning,
said: “As I saw documents and information prosecutors showed during the
questioning, I was shocked and found it hard to believe.”
Separately yesterday, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), son of former president Chen
Shui-bian (陳水扁), alleged the SID had adopted a double standard by not
handcuffing Lin, who is listed as a defendant in an alleged bribery case, when
he was being taken to the Taipei District Court yesterday morning.
Chen Chih-chung said his father, who is currently serving a 17-and-a-half-year
prison sentence for corruption, on November 2008 went to the SID for voluntary
questioning, but the SID soon had him handcuffed after filing a request for his
detention.
A picture showing the former president holding his cuffed hands up while
shouting: “Political persecution, judicial persecution” and “Taiwan, jiayou,”
after six hours of questioning then promptly went viral, Chen Chih-chung said.
Unlike Chen Shui-bian, Chen Chih-chung said Lin was left unshackled even after a
similar judicial request was submitted by the SID.
“How could Lin Yi-shih be the only exception when, aside from Chen Shui-bian, [DPP
lawmaker] Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) and [Yunlin County Commissioner] Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬)
were also manacled after detention requests were filed against them?” Chen
Chih-chung asked.
In response, SID said Lin was unfettered in accordance with the amended version
of the Use of Manacles of Judicial Police of Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office
(高檢署法警使用戒具要點), so his treatment was appropriate.
Chen Hung-ta said that in light of the public outcry sparked by Chen Shui-bian’s
handcuffing, the Ministry of Justice proposed an amendment to the relevant
regulations on Mar. 18, 2009.
Lin was not handcuffed because his case conformed to Item 5 in Article 6 of the
amended law, which stipulates that defendants who responded to summons,
voluntarily surrender or came for a voluntary questioning were, upon questioning
and notification of summary arrest by prosecutors, exempted from being
handcuffed, he said.
Translated by Stacy Hsu, staff writer
This story has been updated since it was first published.
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