Ch'en Chao-min Never Interfered with the Trial! Prosecutor-General Tsai, Do You Really Believe This? ~ Press Conference on the Third Motion for Re-appeal in the Chiang Kuo-ching Case

The non-prosecution case against Ch'en Chao-min and others was revoked and remanded for further investigation by the Taiwan High Prosecutor's Office for a second time, dragging on for three years.

On October 8, Chiang's mother, accompanied by her defense attorneys and the JRF, went to the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office to visit Chief Prosecutor Tsai Pi-yu. Chief Prosecutor Tsai's promise to handle the Chiang case with utmost care still rings in our ears. Yet, on December 1, the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office announced the conclusion of the investigation into the malfeasance case against Ch'en Chao-min and others, granting them non-prosecution—how disappointing!

This is the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office's third non-prosecution disposition for Ch'en Chao-min and others, and it is the most unacceptable one yet. The prosecutors shockingly concluded that Ch'en Chao-min and others never interfered with Chiang Kuo-ching's military trial. It turns out that after Chiang's mother paid a visit to Chief Prosecutor Tsai, the prosecutors once again summoned Lü Te-i, the presiding judge of the military trial panel in the Chiang Kuo-ching case back then. During this interrogation, Lü Te-i suddenly recanted his testimony, changing his story to deny that anyone interfered with the trial. Relying solely on this brand-new testimony, the prosecutors determined that there was insufficient evidence of a crime against Ch'en Chao-min and others, issuing a non-prosecution disposition. This is both regrettable and incomprehensible!

Comparison Table of Lü Te-i's Successive Statements

Date of Interrogation	Interrogating Authority	Key Points of Lü Te-i's Statement
September 24, 2009	Control Yuan	Lü: Such major cases could not possibly be tried independently by just the three of us judges. … All of our factual determinations would be reported to our superiors.
March 28, 2011	Taipei District Prosecutor's Office	Lü: Not summoning Hsu Jung-chou was decided after discussion with superiors, who deemed it unnecessary to summon Hsu Jung-chou again. … Even issuing a single subpoena required the approval of our superiors; if they did not approve, it had to be torn up.
June 15, 2011	Control Yuan	Lü: Independent trial practically did not exist at that time. After every court session, we would consult [superiors] and receive their input. In reality, there was no independent trial because I could not ignore their opinions. For instance, summoning a witness or issuing external official documents required final decision by superiors. To accommodate reality, we had no choice but to do so.
A certain day in October 2015	Taipei District Prosecutor's Office	Lü: I did not investigate the Hsu Jung-chou case because my mental conviction at the time was that this case was committed by Chiang Kuo-ching. "The defendants Ch'en Chao-min and others never interfered with the trial." (Page 32 of the Third Non-Prosecution Disposition)

Last July, the Control Yuan uncovered that former Minister of National Defense Ch'en Chao-min had issued eight slips of paper interfering with the military trial, exposing the evil truth behind the wrongful death of Chiang Kuo-ching. New evidence shows that three months before Chiang Kuo-ching was executed by firing squad on August 13, 1997, Hsu Jung-chou, a soldier from the same camp, confessed that he was the real perpetrator. Upon learning this, the presiding judge and public prosecutor handling the retrial attached great importance to it and intended to suspend the trial to clarify the doubts surrounding whether Hsu Jung-chou was the real perpetrator before concluding the Chiang Kuo-ching case. Unexpectedly, this was opposed and vetoed by high-ranking officials of the Air Force Headquarters led by Ch'en Chao-min, who even unlawfully issued notes to interfere with the military trial, ultimately leading to the execution of an innocent Chiang Kuo-ching, who otherwise had a chance to escape wrongful death.

Facing the potential crimes committed by Ch'en Chao-min and others, the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office first dragged its feet over and over again. When it could drag it out no longer, they brought in the presiding judge of that era, Lü Te-i, to give evasive and untruthful testimony, evidently intending to shield Ch'en Chao-min and others from criminal liability. We must ask Chief Prosecutor Tsai Pi-yu, now that Lü Te-i has recanted his testimony to claim that "the defendants Ch'en Chao-min and others never interfered with the trial":

• Do you truly believe this?
• Can you truly accept prosecutors using this as grounds for non-prosecution?
• Can you truly reconcile this with your legal conscience?

Chief Prosecutor Tsai Pi-yu bears an unshirkable duty to answer these questions for the people of the nation!

To correct this erroneous non-prosecution disposition by the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office, today we are once again assisting Chiang's mother in filing a third motion for re-appeal with the Taiwan High Prosecutor's Office, demanding the revocation of this non-prosecution disposition. We maintain that, based on the relevant evidence and investigative traces uncovered by the Control Yuan, as well as the civil first-instance trial case files and evidence regarding the Ministry of National Defense seeking compensation from military officers such as Ch'en Chao-min; and taking into consideration that the Chiang Kuo-ching case involves complex legal application issues, it is entirely appropriate for the court to render the final and ultimate judgment. The Judicial Reform Foundation calls upon the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office to promptly investigate and indict former Air Force Commander-in-Chief Ch'en Chao-min and others, so as to initiate criminal proceedings and hold Ch'en Chao-min and others criminally accountable.

Attendees

Chiang Kuo-ching's Mother / Ms. Wang Ts'ai-lien
Chiang Kuo-ching Case Pro Bono Legal Team / Attorney Yu Po-hsiang, Attorney Lo Wan-t'ing
Judicial Reform Foundation CEO / Attorney Kao Jung-chih

Press Contacts

Judicial Reform Foundation CEO / Kao Jung-chih
Judicial Reform Foundation Executive Secretary / Hsiao I-min