Some injustices regarding Chen Shui-Bian's cases (關於扁案的一些不正義)

AFTER judge Chou Chan-Chuen (周占春) ruled the release of Chen Shui-Bian (陳水扁), all cases involving Chen were transferred to Tsai Shou-Hsun (蔡守訓). The Grand Justices of the Republic of China in exile announced that Taipei District Court's regulation on case dispatching (台北地院分案要點) does not violate the constitution. However, the transferring of the cases to judge Tsai did NOT obey Taipei District Court's regulation on case dispatching (台北地院分案要點), which requires a bureau attended by a strict majority of presidents of courts (庭長), among which a strict majority must agree to be able to transfer the cases. There are 18 presidents of courts. So the strict majority is at least 10, out of which at least 6 must agree for transferring the cases. But the bureau was attended by only 5 presidents of courts! Furthermore, even if Taipei District Court's regulation on case dispatching does not itself violate the due process of law, they should have transferred the cases before the judge ruled ANYTHING. After judge Chou ruled Chen's release, for example, the outsiders were not having zero knowledge about Chou's evaluation of evidences. Changing the judges via administrative means (e.g., by a bureau of presidents of courts), then, violates judicial independence even if Taipei District Court's regulation on case dispatching itself does not.

在周占春裁定無保釋放陳水扁後，陳的案子移給了蔡守訓審理。中華民國流亡政府的大法官宣布台北地院分案要點是合憲的。但是，分案的過程並未依照分案要點進行，該要點規定須有超過半數庭長出席庭長會議，其中超過半數同意方得更換法官；北院有18個庭, 其中過半數至少為10, 10裡面的過半數至少為6, 然而卻只有五位庭長出席庭長會議，就把法官換好了。另外，即便台北地院分案要點本身並未違逆正當法律程序，也應該在法官做出任何相關裁定前換好法官。例如，在周裁定無保釋放陳水扁後，外界對其心證已非完全無從猜想或知悉，在此情況下以行政手段（例如庭長會議）更換法官將違逆司法獨立（即便分案要點本身不違逆司法獨立亦然）。


In 2008, prosecutors of the Special Investigation Division (特偵組) vowed to quit their jobs should they fail to conclude the cases before the end of the year ("年底前...沒辦出結果就下台"). During the judiciary festival (司法節), prosecutors who were investigating Chen's cases wrote and performed a play that ridicules Chen's being hand-cuffed. Justice Minister Wang Ching-Feng (王清峰) watched the show with laughter. She also talked about Chen's cases on TV.

2008年，特偵組集體發誓年底辦不出來就下台。在司法節，當時_正在_偵辦扁案的檢察官親自編劇及演出嘲弄陳水扁被上手銬的戲碼，出席的法務部長王清峰則哈哈大笑，另外，王部長也在電視上談論扁的個案。


Even before Chen was charged, he has been detained for one month. Until now, he has been detained for more than 700 days. Because of Chen's extraordinarily long detention and limited time to meet with his lawyers, he's got very little time to prepare to defend himself, as opposed to the prosecutors' abundance of time and resources for preparing their arguments. During the detention, Chen performed hunger strikes several times. As punishments, he was prohibited from visitations and outdoor activities.

即便在扁被起訴之前，他就已經被羈押了一個月，至今，他已經被羈押逾七百天。也因為超長的羈押和短暫的面見律師時間，他只有很少的時間能夠準備為自己辯護，不像檢方有充足的時間準備說辭。在羈押過程中，扁數次絕食抗議，但卻遭到禁止放風和禁止會客的處罰。


There are many other ridiculous things around. The media are mostly against Chen. They've been hiding out or spending very little time on evidences favoring Chen and spamming whatever disadvantageous to him, with many of the latter proven false without being clarified on the news. The media often knew the charges against Chen in advance. However, none has investigated how the information leaked. During a court session, Chen felt pain in his chest. However, judge Tsai immediately ruled that Chen goes back to detention without any physical examination. During the detention, all Chen's communications with the outside world are monitored carefully. But the Special Investigation Division (特偵組) still sought his ward for the so-called "secret documents." The Supreme Prosecutors Office (最高法院檢查署) issued a subpoena to Chen's 3-year-old granddaughter, saying that there is necessity that she comes to the office ("認有請 台端來署說明之必要"). The Legislative Yuan amended the law to cancel Chen's courtesy in a retroactive way. Some interrogation sessions were recorded in a barely audible way. Li Jie-Mu (李界木) was even coerced during the interrogations with "Should you say it is the consensus of all, then everyone is finished," "Don't bet with me... you will be sentenced to life imprisonment" ("大家共識, 大家一起死," "不要跟我賭啦... 一定判無期"). There are many other controversies during the interrogations.

還有相當多荒謬的事情。媒體大多數反扁，他們隱藏或只花非常少的時間被導對扁有利的訊息，對扁不利的消息則是大力傳播，其中有很多事後已被確認為誤但並未被澄清。媒體也經常事先知道起訴內容，但從未有人調查過訊息是如何洩漏的。在一次開庭時，扁的胸口作痛，但蔡法官下令不必做任何檢查、直接還押。羈押期間，扁與外界的所有通訊都受到檢查，但特偵組卻仍舊以扁的牢房可能藏有機密文件為由，進行搜索。最高法院檢查署發了一個傳票給扁的三歲孫女，上面寫著「認有請 台端來署說明之必要」。立法院修改卸任正副總統禮遇條例，竟以溯及既往之方式取消扁的禮遇金。有些偵訊的錄音難以清楚聽到，而李界木也在偵訊期間被威脅"大家共識, 大家一起死"、"不要跟我賭啦... 一定判無期"等，偵訊過程尚有諸多其他爭議。


A recent event is that judge Chou ruled Chen's innocence in the financial consolidation case. President Ma Ying-Jeou (馬英九) immediately responded that verdicts should not run counter to the people's reasonable expectation. (During his presidency, he also said that Chen reminds him of Philippine's Ferdinand Marcos. In March 2008 he also said that bullets have been loaded and the death will be miserable "子彈已經上膛會死得很難看.") Then he invited officials of judicial affairs for a "judicial reform." His ruling party, the Chinese Kuomintang (a.k.a. Chinese Nationalist Party), also protested Chou's judgment and threatened to amend the law that could "expel improper judges."

周占春最近在二次金改案判扁無罪。總統馬英九立刻宣示判決不能夠違背合理期待，並宴請法界高層談論「司法改革」。（在總統任內，馬還說過扁令他聯想到馬可仕，2008年三月他也說過子彈已經上膛，會死得很難看。）執政黨也反對此判決並威脅要修正法官法，該法可能會「淘汰不適任法官」。


I think I have been witnessing the "two minutes of hatred" in Orwell's 1984.

我認為我正在見證Orwell的1984中的兩分鐘仇恨會。