2 former government officials deemed not guilty in military leak case
2015/11/12 22:16:21
Former Vice Premier Chiou I-jen. (CNA file photo)
Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) Two former government officials under the previous administration of Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were found not guilty in a military leak case, according to the final ruling over the case by the Supreme Court Thursday.
Former Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and former Defense Minister Tsai Ming-shian (蔡明憲) were found not guilty, after they were indicted by prosecutors in August 2014 over charges of breaching the Classified National Security Information Protection Act.
The indictment came after Chiou was found to possess classified documents regarding national security and military secrets at his home in 2008, when prosecutors were searching his home to collect evidence for another case related to former president Chen. At the time, Chiou had stepped down from his post as vice premier.
During Chen's administration from 2000-2008, Chiou had served in several different posts, including vice premier, secretary general of the National Security Council, and secretary-general of the Presidential Office.
The classified documents, consisting of 11 pages, were related to an investigation into the disbanded private arms firm "Taiwan Goal" with investment from various government agencies, including the Ministry of National Defense.
At the time, Chiou claimed that it was Tsai, then-defense minister, who gave him the documents.
Chiou and Tsai were thus indicted over charges of leaking and collecting confidential military information, in breach of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act.
However, they were found not guilty due to the lack of sufficient evidence to prove them guilty, according to the Supreme Court ruling, which upheld a previous decision by the Taiwan High Court.
Chiou's confession during the interrogation was contradictory and the evidence available was not enough to prove that Tsai gave the documents to Chiou on purpose, the court said.
The court added that it could not rule out the possibility that Chiou acquired the classified documents during his tenure as vice premier and mistakenly brought them back home from his office at the Executive Yuan after stepping down as vice premier.
Meanwhile, the documents were only some pages on the "Taiwan Goal" case, not the complete investigation report on the case, the court said.
The launch of "Taiwan Goal" drew flak over questions whether it had been registered as a private firm to avoid legislative oversight, although most of its funding was believed to have come from the Defense Ministry or state-owned companies.
(By Page Tsai and Elaine Hou)
