High court upholds most sentences in ex-servicemen espionage case

Taipei, Aug. 14 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court on Thursday upheld the prison terms of three former servicemen in an espionage case, while slightly reducing the sentence of another following appeals.

According to the court, Lai Chung-yu (賴重宇), Chen Wen-hao (陳文豪), Lin Yu-kai (林裕凱) and Li Yu-erh (黎育爾) had appealed that their sentences be reduced under Article 59 of the Criminal Code, which allows leniency when circumstances warrant pity and forgiveness.

In the initial verdict handed down by the Taipei District Court in March, Lai was given a sentence of seven years, while Lin got five years and 10 months, Chen received six years and five months, and Li six years and eight months.

After reviewing the nature of their crimes, the High Court said it found no compelling reasons for leniency, adding that their appeals were without merit.

However, it reduced Li's jail term by one month to six years and seven months because the district court failed to take into consideration that he voluntarily returned all criminal proceeds during the investigation and provided information to prosecutors concerning Lin's involvement in the case.

Their verdicts can, however, be appealed, it said.

Lai, Li and Lin were members of the 211th Military Police Battalion, which guards the Presidential Office, while Chen served in the MND's Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command.

All four were indicted by prosecutors in December 2024 on national security and corruption charges.

According to their indictment, Lai and Chen began passing information to the Chinese intelligence services in exchange for money while still serving in the military in April 2022.

They were allegedly recruited and paid by a Taiwanese man surnamed Huang (黃), who remains at large.

Initially, Chen photographed the documents, which were then relayed by Lai to Huang or another Chinese operative. Lai later began taking the photos himself, but was caught and reassigned to another unit.

Following Lai's transfer, he recruited Li to continue photographing documents, and Li later passed the task to Lin before retiring in February last year.

Prosecutors estimate that Lai received NT$460,000 (US$15,339), Chen NT$450,000, Li NT$664,100, and Lin NT$265,900 for their actions.

Prosecutors launched an investigation in August 2024 after the Ministry of National Defense received a tip-off from a soldier.

In their first trial held in March, the district court described their actions as a "betrayal of the country," emphasizing that, having been trained by the military, they should have upheld loyalty to the nation.

"Instead, they accepted bribes and secretly photographed nonclassified but sensitive internal documents from key security and intelligence units over several months, endangering national security," it said.