Supreme Court upholds sentences for retired Army personnel in spying case

Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) The Supreme Court has upheld lower court prison sentences for two retired members of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Army who were found guilty of attempting to collect military intelligence for China.

Its ruling was final.

The Supreme Court agreed with the Taiwan High Court's sentencing of a former staff sergeant surnamed Wu (吳) and a former private surnamed Tsou (鄒) to 22 and 20 months in prison, respectively, for violating the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces.

It rejected appeals made by both the defendants and the prosecutors, explaining that the previous ruling by the Taiwan High Court Tainan Branch Court did not have any errors.

According to the final verdict, when Wu and Tsou served at the Guandu Area Command, they came into contact with Liu (劉), a person thought to be affiliated with a Chinese military intelligence agency, in 2003 and 2012, respectively.

Under Liu's instructions, the two men collected Taiwan's military secrets in exchange for substantial compensation, the Supreme Court said.

In April 2013, Wu used military computers to download 135 classified files, including those related to Han Kuang drills and anti-infiltration operations, and joined with Tsou in handing the information over to Liu, it said.

Because there was no direct evidence showing that the information was delivered to Chinese agents, however, Wu and Tsou's actions were deemed as attempted offenses, according to the court.