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Talk of the day -- Judge resigns to protest lenient sentence
2010/07/30 11:53:43 |
A judge on a three-member panel that presided over the trial of former Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Chen Che-nan at the Taiwan High Court resigned Thursday to protest the lenient sentence handed down to Chen.
The news dominated the pages of local newspapers Friday. Following are excepts of the stories that appeared in three leading newspapers:
China Times: Chen Heng-kuan, an accompanying judge on the panel, tendered his resignation after the sentence that cut Chen Che-nan's jail term from nine years to just seven months caused public outcry.
Chen Heng-Kuan said he did not agree with the judgment rendered by the presiding judge, Tseng Teh-shui, but could not change it.
Chen Heng-kuan said he would prefer to give up his post rather than continue to serve on the bench with shame.
One of Chen Heng-kuan's superiors at the Taiwan High Court asked him to have second thoughts about his decision, which will cast the court in even worse light at a time when its image is already tarnished by the detention of three judges in connection with bribery allegations.
Chen Che-nan was indicted for taking NT$6 million (US$187,762) from a business tycoon in return for his promise that judges would treat him leniently in a criminal case against him.
He was given a 12-year sentence by a district court, which was commuted to nine years by the Taiwan High Court and then slashed to seven months in a re-trial, also by the Taiwan High Court.
As a confidante of former President Chen Shui-bian, Chen Che-nan was considered by Chen Shui-bian's political foes as a vital member of the disgraced ex-president's "corruption group." (July 30, 2010).
United Daily News: Chen Heng-kuan decided to quit after his 7-year-old daughter told him with glee that she read his name in the newspaper under the headline that the judges had a lot of "nerve" to give Chen Che-nan such a lenient sentence.
Chen Heng-kuan felt deep disgrace, as his daughter did not understand that by "nerve," the paper actually meant "brass neck."
Chen Heng-kuan said he argued against the presiding judge Tseng Teh-shui for more than an hour before Tseng determined the sentence, but as accompanying judge, his opinion was dismissed by the presiding judge.
However, Chen Heng-kuan asked Tseng to put his dissenting opinion on the record even it made no difference to the sentence.
Tseng is known in court circles for being arrogant, often coercing his accompanying judges to follow his opinion.
It is for this reason that another accompanying judge in his panel, Tsui Ling-chi, asked for a transfer to another panel a day earlier.
It was reported that Tsui also did not see eye to eye with Tseng on the judgment on Chen Che-nan but deferred to the presiding judge because he will assess her job performance at the end of the year. (July 30, 2010).
Liberty Times: Chen Heng-kuan's resignation in protest is unprecedented in the stagnant judiciary.
Hsieh Tsay-chuan, acting president of the Judicial Yuan, has asked him to stay in his post and pull his weight for the improvement of the judiciary.
A judicial source said it is common in court that accompanying judges' opinions are dismissed by presiding judges who are senior in service and, sometimes, over-confident in their legal opinion. (July 30, 2010). (By Maubo Chang) ENDITEM/J
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