Taiwan Strait Network reported on July 12 that former Taiwan Strait Foundation chairman Zheng Wencan was accused of corruption during his tenure as mayor of Taoyuan. The prosecutor asked for bail. The first two times he was ordered to pay NT$500 by the Taoyuan District Court. He paid bail of 10,000 yuan and 12 million yuan, but the prosecutors protested in both cases. Cai Zhengyuan, a former public opinion representative, said that it is too strange for the prosecutor to choose to handle this case. There are still many controversies in this case. The judge has the freedom to decide whether to collude with witnesses and whether it is considered corruption. "Without detention or search, just keep There is no room for future acquittal." Yesterday (July 11) afternoon, the Taoyuan District Court held a detention court for the third time. After more than 4 hours of hearing, it was ruled that Zheng Wencan should be detained without permission.
▲ Zheng Wencan (Taiwan’s “China News Network” file photo)
Former public opinion representative Cai Zhengyuan pointed out on the island’s political commentary program “Big News Big News” on July 10, “If Zheng Wencan was not from the Democratic Progressive Party, he would have been detained long ago. "Get up." As for whether the 5 million yuan is considered corruption, there is still a dispute. The prosecutor accused Zheng Wencan of changing the address to make a profit of more than 5 billion yuan, but only took 5 million yuan. However, changing the address is legal, and I have never seen the DPP's market price so low. Either I really didn't get it or I didn't find anything bigger.
Cai Zhengyuan said frankly that some people said that the prosecutors just want to give an explanation to the superiors and find a case that is not easy to prosecute, because Zheng Wencan has other bigger cases that are still on ice; he also feels that it is too strange for the prosecutors to handle this case. It is easy for the judge to find fault with doubtful cases and for Zheng Wencan to refute, "The judge does not detain or search, leaving room for acquittal in the future."
Hong Kong media China Review News reported that in addition to hiring three big-name lawyers to defend him, Zheng Wencan also seemed to have already set up two fire lines to fight for innocence in corruption cases.
The first line of defense is that it is rumored that the 5 million yuan that was seized by the investigation was signed with an IOU, trying to create a loan relationship between the two, clearing the suspicion of bribery, and striving to fight for innocence.
The second fire line is that Zheng Wencan was rumored to have leaked the translation of the surveillance surveillance at that time. Zheng Cai urgently paid back the money in August 2018. Because of the repayment, even those related to the case insisted on 5 million yuan. It was a bribe, but Zheng's defense lawyer could still argue that he had "attempted to accept a bribe" and did not punish the attempter because he "did not violate his official position by accepting bribes."
However, some people in the legal circles on the island believe that accepting bribes is an "instant crime". Even if a refund is made afterwards, it will not undermine the establishment of the crime of accepting bribes. Therefore, if Zheng Wencan's legal team lets the fire reach the second line of defense, they will fight for innocence. The probability is not great.
However, as the latest court ruling came out, the Democratic Progressive Party's Integrity Commission stated on the 11th that Zheng Wencan would be suspended from power for three years starting from the 12th. Taiwanese media said that Zheng Wencan was once regarded as a "political star" within the Democratic Progressive Party, and his political career will be affected by this case.
