Thursday, November 12, 2009

KMT 張宏年 胡志強 貪汙: 判決無罪

20091111莓莓新聞爆米香 (6/6)




向電玩業索賄案 收錢 無施壓實證 張宏年無罪

台中市議長張宏年被控利用議長身分,向市府施壓協助電玩業者取得兩張執照,事後向業者收取前金、後謝外加營利乾股共二一四○萬元。案經檢察官依貪汙罪起訴,台中地院十日審結,認為張宏年雖有收錢事實,但向市府施壓關說部分罪證不足,雖核照速度快速有可疑處,但無法推論與張宏年有關,判決無罪。本案仍可上訴。

 另外,張宏年隨扈吳啟欣被控受指示向電玩業者柯美雲取款,亦判決無罪;兩名電玩業者柯美雲、郭俊佑判決一年二月、一年徒刑,均緩刑四年;與業者勾結收賄的員警何明憲、擔任白手套的前員警林昌朋均判十五年二月徒刑。

 對於判決結果,檢方表示,將等收到判決書後,再考量是否上訴。

 檢方原起訴內容指出,因台中市長胡志強於九十一年間指示採取「電子遊戲場業暫緩受理發照」政策,柯美雲礙於法令無法再開設小鋼珠電子遊戲場,於九十四年一月間,透過張宏年出面向市府關說,協助取得兩張電玩執照。

 張宏年指示不知情的市議會機要祕書關勳熹,居間在市府內部及相關單位協調;並親自打電話給胡志強。後又向時任經濟局長廖德淘告知該申請案,要求盡快核發。期間,張又打電話給胡、廖二人詢問審核情形,廖德淘在簽呈上以鉛筆註記「張議長12/7」字樣。

 執照順利核發後,柯女按月支付一百萬元給張宏年,共計至九十七年七月止,張宏年從柯女處獲得二一四○萬元。檢方原認定該筆款項是前金、後謝加經營小鋼珠店利潤,依貪汙罪嫌將張宏年等人起訴。

 胡志強作證,「該二案核准當年,並無其他申請電玩業通過市府核准,當時已到十二月年底,考量到這一點,才予以核准」;「會核准原因,是因 為申請內容合法,且我不想讓當年申請核准件數掛零」。廖德淘稱,將議長的關切用鉛筆註記,是讓長官瞭解該二案是張議長所關切案件。

Premier 吳敦義's gangster connection
KMT disinterests in and stonewalls investigation

Taipei Times: Lai (賴清德) urges justice ministry to investigate Wu Den-yih (吳敦義)

MORE ALLEGATIONS: The legislator said he suspected the premier was involved in an incident in which a politician was allegedly threatened
By Shelley Huang and Flora Wang
STAFF REPORTERS
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 3

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator William Lai (賴清德) yesterday asked Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) to launch a probe into whether Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) has tried to influence next month’s Nantou County commissioner election through illegal means.

In a closed-door meeting between the two at the Ministry of Justice, Lai told Wang prosecutors should investigate whether Wu asked gang members to scare Non-Partisan Party candidate Chen Chen-sheng (陳振盛) out of running in the election, which would violate the Criminal Code and the Recall Act of Public Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法).

In a written petition, Lai said Chen was threatened on Oct. 6 by a gang member, who told Chen he would be “taken care of” if he ran in the election. Lai said he suspected Wu was linked to the incident.

Lai urged prosecutors to probe the matter immediately because a month had already passed since the incident.
Comment: The judicial system shows no interest and takes no action whatsoever, even though this has been reported to the police and frequently criticized in the talk shows.
The ministry accepted Lai’s petition and said the case would be processed in accordance with the law.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Lai said Wang had declined to allow reporters to attend their meeting because she feared public scrutiny of the case.

“I urge the public to keep an eye on this case so that it is not forgotten,” he said.

Wu has been on the defensive since allegations surfaced that he has connections to organized crime.

Wu has conceded that he went on a trip to Bali, Indonesia, with a group that included Nantou County Commissioner Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿) and Chiang Chin-liang (江欽良), a former gangster.

Chiang, now chairman of the Tsaoyetun Night Market Association in Caotun Township (草屯), Nantou County, was convicted of murder in two separate cases: the slaying of a Changhua gangster and a Nantou County council member in 1983 and 1985 respectively.

On Tuesday, Wu’s lawyer filed a slander lawsuit against DPP Nantou County commissioner candidate Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) for saying Wu had links to organized crime.

In other news, a group of academics and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Ling-chun (江玲君) yesterday urged candidates running in this weekend’s KMT Central Standing Committee by-election to practice clean politics.

The group told a press conference at the legislature that they would e-mail or fax a written pledge to the 73 candidates and release the names of those who sign it ahead of tomorrow’s poll.

Chiang said the candidates had performed well so far and she hoped that none would resort to smearing their opponents.

Liu Teng-chung (劉燈鐘), deputy director of the KMT’s Department of Youth Affairs and a professor at Kang-Ning Junior College of Medical Care and Management, called for a clean election after allegations of bribery in an earlier poll.

Liu was referring to last month’s Central Standing Committee election. Claims of rampant bribery overshadowed the results of the election. Most of the committee members resigned after the KMT’s Evaluation and Disciplinary Committee suspended the membership rights of 12 committee members.

The party at first said it would not redo the poll, but President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, and high-ranking KMT officials urged committee members to resign in order to necessitate a second election.

Monday, November 2, 2009

台北地方法院: 金恆煒須賠償馬英九夫人周美青「名譽損失費」六十萬台幣...

《曹長青專欄》馬英九開始封殺金恆煒
曹長青

台北地方法院上週六判決,專欄作家金恆煒須賠償馬英九夫人周美青「名譽損失費」六十萬台幣並登報道歉;因在去年大選前的一場造勢會上,金恆煒曾引述一本書的資料,指周美青在美國哈佛期間曾偷竊圖書館報刊。

台北地院的這項判決,給人的強烈感覺是,法官不僅維護當權者、替馬英九做「打手」,更明顯挑戰、踐踏言論自由的原則。

在新聞自由度相當高的美國等西方國家,早就對這樣的名人和權力者狀告誹謗案,確立了明確的裁決標準。

如美國最高法院四十年前就在裁決一名警察局長狀告《紐約時報》誹謗案時,提出了著名的「三原則」:政府官員或公眾人物(一般平民不受這個限制)要告誹謗,必須提出三種證據,第一,報導與事實不符;第二,對當事人名譽造成損害;第三,有「事實惡意」,即事先知道不是事實,或不加核實而有意陷害當事人。最高法院還裁決,舉證責任在原告,而不是被告。這是一項巨大的有利於新聞和言論自由的決定,因為誰負責舉證,誰就會更困難。

按照這個目前全世界民主國家幾乎都採用的「三原則」,做為總統夫人的周美青(不僅是公眾人物,更有相當權力)就必須提出:第一,指控與事實不符。不是由被告提出證據,而是由周美青自己「舉證」,證明她在美國哈佛期間沒有偷過報刊。第二,她要證明,這個指控對她名譽造成「損害」;不是她自己感覺怎麼樣,而是諸如因此發生婚變,或丟掉工作等實質損害;第三,即使前兩項能做到,周美青也難以證明對方是「有意陷害」。怎麼證明對方事先有預謀?美國最高法院所以把這個「第三」定得這麼難,就是盡最大努力不讓「權力者和名人」輕易打贏官司,由此保護新聞和言論自由。

政府官員和公眾人物,當然很可能因此付出被人誹謗和污名化的代價;但因為他們是名人,就有很多機會上媒體,澄清自己。美國最高法院的這種裁決,就是寧可讓權力者和名人付出這種代價,也不要出現批評者因可以被輕易懲罰而噤聲,導致新聞和言論自由受限,造成整個社會的損害。

總統夫人狀告一個專欄作家,在美國是完全不可想像的。別說第一夫人,就是美國的共和黨總統候選人麥肯,被《紐約時報》沒有「明確消息來源」地指控有婚外情,麥肯也沒有去告報紙,就是因為美國最高法院有那個「三原則」,他沒法打贏官司。當然,麥肯的「名譽」因此可能受損,但美國的言論和新聞自由,卻受到了保護,這才是美國的法官和民眾更看重的。

而今天台北地院這樣的判決,等於是殺雞儆猴,替馬英九封住批評者的口。馬政府上台後,國際無疆界記者組織發佈的全球新聞自由度排名,台灣已從三十六名,大幅降至五十九名;而今天馬英九夫婦對一個評論家的這種打壓、封口,將使台灣的排名,更會下降。更嚴重的是,它將造成一種肅殺的氣氛:你們誰敢「污衊」國民黨高官,就讓掌控在該黨手心裡的「法律金箍棒」給你們顏色看。

(作者曹長青為獨立評論員http://caochangqing.com

——原載台灣《自由時報》2009年11月2日