|
Kuo treated unjustly
by the nation’s judiciary
Open letter from the North America Taiwanese Professors’ Associa
On International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10 last year, the legislature’s
Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee invited the Judicial Yuan and
the Ministry of Justice to deliver reports on human rights and how to avoid
miscarriages of justice.
The North America Taiwanese Professors’ Association (NATPA) affirms the request
by the committee’s convener, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu
Mei-nu (尤美女), for these reports and to speak up on behalf of those who have been
wronged.
We also thank DPP legislators Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋), Mark Chen (陳唐山) and Hsu
Tain-tsair (許添財) for speaking up for former Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp (SSAC)
chairman and chief executive Kuo Ching-chiang (郭清江), a member of NATPA allegedly
involved in embezzlement and corruption at SSAC.
The three legislators said that the Special Investigation Division (SID), after
conducting the SSAC investigation in 2008, did not further investigate the case.
Usually investigations must be finalized within eight months, but this case has
been ongoing for almost five years without finding any wrongdoing by Kuo. The
SID will not close the investigation and Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫)
and Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) will not deal with it. This has
caused suspicion that it is being handled on a political basis.
Kuo is not a public official, but he is under investigation for malfeasance. He
was also barred from leaving the country for 10 months without legal grounds.His
human rights have been seriously violated.
While barred from leaving the country, he requested that the SID initiate court
proceedings to clarify the situation, but his request was rejected.
When Kuo was interviewed by the SID for the second time in January 2009,
prosecutors told him that the US’ investigation into the SSAC case had been
completed, that no irregularities had been found and that the investigation
would not continue, so he was no longer barred from leaving the country.
However, he was informed that the SID was investigating former Council for
Economic Planning and Development chairperson Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) for influence
peddling, and that he was suspected of “passively assisting Ho” and might have
to return to Taiwan for questioning. He had to post NT$1 million (US$34,000)
bail.
Kuo has still not been summoned for questioning. He has requested that the case
be closed on five occasions, but the SID has ignored him and his bail payment
has not been returned.
Kuo gave up a well-paid job in the US to return to Taiwan and has made numerous
contributions here. For example, he helped resolve several problems in Taipei’s
Mass Rapid Transit system.
He assisted in reconstruction following the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and developed
ecological engineering techniques to prevent landslides and restore residential
security.
Furthermore, he took charge of SSAC, where he obtained every certification
required by the US’ Federal Aviation Administration, set up a production line to
manufacture high-quality commercial aircraft and attract investment from a Saudi
Arabian company, raising SSAC’s value to over US$100 million.
Despite these achievements, the abuse of judicial power and slander by the media
have destroyed his reputation. He has been in limbo, suffering due to deliberate
procrastination of prosecutors and an unwillingness to close the investigation
although they are unable to find any evidence of wrongdoing.
NATPA calls on the Ministry of Justice to urge the prosecutor-general to
urgently address this case and, if no wrongdoing can be established, promptly
close the investigation.
Translated by Perry Svensson
|
