Former Army sergeant gets 12 years in prison for leaking military secrets

Taipei, July 27 (CNA) The Supreme Court has upheld a 12-year prison sentence for a former Army sergeant convicted of leaking classified military information in exchange for financial rewards.

The court dismissed Sun Chu-Chuan's (孫楚荃) appeal July 22, finding no error in the lower court's ruling or application of the law, the Supreme Court said in its ruling. The sentence is final.

The case stemmed from Sun's service with the Army's Matsu Defense Command from June 2021 to December 2022, according to an indictment by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office.

The indictment said that while serving as a sergeant, Sun photographed classified state and military documents with his mobile phone and transmitted them to others in exchange for cash or cryptocurrency payments. It did not specify the nature of the information involved.

Sun, who was facing debt-related financial difficulties at the time, was persuaded to leak the classified information by three people he met on Telegram. The three used the aliases "Baiwei" (百威), "Yun Ge" (雲哥) and "Jack Jack."

Sun subsequently transmitted classified materials to them on eight occasions and received NT$67,770 (US$2,096) in payments.

In December 2025, the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office indicted Sun on corruption charges and related offenses.

The Taiwan High Court on April 21 found Sun guilty of accepting bribes under the Anti-Corruption Act and disclosing military documents classified as confidential under the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and deprived of his civil rights for six years.

Sun later appealed, but the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.