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Huang accused of
leaking information to president
UNWANTED FIRST: Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming
said he felt deep regret that the prosecutors’ office has chosen to levy
criminal charges against him
By Rich Chang / Staff reporter, with CNA
Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming
speaks to the media on Oct. 7.
Photo: CNA
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office
yesterday indicted Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) on charges of
leaking classified information in violation of the Criminal Code and the
Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法).
Huang, the first top prosecutor to be indicted on criminal charges in Taiwan,
responded by saying that he will resign if he is convicted of leaking secrets, a
charge he has denied.
The offense of leaking confidential information carries a maximum sentence of
three years in prison and the same sentence applies to violations of the
Communication Security and Surveillance Act.
The indictment said Huang broke the law when he briefed President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) on Aug. 31 about tapped telephone conversations indicating that
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) in late June allegedly lobbied
then-minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) and Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office
head prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) to prevent Taiwan High Prosecutor’s Office
prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤) from seeking an appeal against Democratic
Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming’s (柯建銘) breach of trust case.
It was not until Sept. 5 that the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the
Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, which reports to Huang, concluded its investigation
and decided not to press any criminal charges against Wang or Ker, the
indictment said.
Huang said he broke no law, as he reported to the president only after having
decided that Wang’s actions were not illegal, but merely contravened
administrative procedure.
However, the indictment said that the report given to Ma by Huang indicated
that, in the prosecutor-general’s view, the case was criminal in nature and that
the investigation was ongoing. Therefore, he was forbidden by the Criminal Code
to brief anyone on the case.
As the information on Wang’s actions was obtained from the wiretapping of Ker’s
cellphone, Huang also broke the law when he briefed the president, the
indictment said.
Huang’s report to Ma was handed over to the prosecution on Oct. 3, when the
president answered the prosecution’s questions as a witness in an investigation
into Huang’s actions.
In the report, Huang wrote about the possibility of conducting searches and
summoning Wang, Ker and others for questioning, according to the indictment.
The indictment also disputed the prosecutor-general’s claim that in briefing the
president, he was seeking intervention in an issue that involved different
branches of government. If there had been a need for such an intervention, Huang
should have spoken to Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) rather than the president, the
indictment said.
Huang yesterday responded through a statement that he felt deep regret that the
prosecutors’ office has chosen to levy criminal charges against him.
Insisting on his innocence, Huang said he is confident that he did not break any
law when he briefed the president on the influence peddling case.
“This is evident in my Oct. 3 statement issued after I answered district
prosecutors’ questions about the case,” Huang said in the statement, adding that
he hopes the district court will clear his name as soon as possible.
In his Oct. 3 statement, Huang said that all he did was lift the veil on the
darkest, ugliest part of the country’s judicial system, referring to Wang’s
alleged abuse of his influence to stop a court case.
Meanwhile, as part of the case, two prosecutors working for the SID were cleared
by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office of any wrongdoing.
The office said it found that they had asked for a wiretap on one of the
Legislative Yuan’s phone lines by mistake, thinking it was a number used by one
of Ker’s assistants.
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