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Taiwan Court: Taping conversations between detainees and lawyers UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Read about it at Taiwan News.

A message from Dr. Shieh concerning this ruling (article about the ruling follows this message):

“…I had to be in the Detention Center in Tainan for 59 days; during 

that period no visitors were allowed, not even my family.  I was 

allowed to communicate only with my lawyer, but every meeting was

audio recorded and videotaped. There was always a security guard in 

attendance, tape recording our meetings.  After each meeting with my 

lawyer, the tapes were sent to the prosecutor.  That's what is meant by 

a lawyer visit …”

(The above is an excerpt from Dr. Shieh’s testimony at The Heritage Foundation in Washington DC on November 25, 2008)

The Taiwan Constitutional Court judges' Interpretation #645, issued on January 23, 2009, states that the current lawyer visitation procedures conducted by the Department of Justice in Taiwan , which allow these meetings to be supervised and recorded by the detention centers, are unconstitutional and should be voided starting from May 1, 2009.

The ruling, although a small step toward improving the protection of human rights in Taiwan, is in fact deflecting attention from a far more severe violation of human rights upheld by Taiwanese detention law.  This law provides the prosecutor with the power to exercise the practice of pre-trial detention, which is used at the prosecutors will to place strain on the detainee and harass a citizen who should be presumed innocent. The law clearly specifies that pre-trial detention can be applied against any citizen who might be suspicious of colluding with other individuals or in danger of destroying or manipulating evidence.  This is unduly devastating and grossly deprives basic human rights.

Consider the following situation.

Almost every case in Taiwan begins with an investigation initiated by prosecutors.  They go after all suspects, staging a blanket, large-scaled search, collecting everything, every piece of possible evidence.  All items, documents, possessions that they collect are confiscated, kept by the prosecutors at their offices; furthermore, it is forbidden that anybody other than prosecution personnel should retrieve or review these materials.  By holding these materials, the prosecutors  effectively “destroy” any evidence that the suspect may use to prove his or her innocence.  Meanwhile the prosecution office carries on questioning and interrogating all persons they think to be possible informants or witnesses.  The prosecutor uses his/her power to influence, intimidate and frighten the people questioned: your boss, ex-bosses, subordinates, friends, relatives and others.  All statements and answers are audio-recorded, and the tapes used as evidence to indict the suspect and paint him/her as a criminal.  In addition to all of this, the prosecution office places the suspect in detention (before any charges have been brought) in order “to prevent any possibility of collusion and the manipulating of evidence by the suspect."  But isn’t the prosecution's investigation methods and procedure (including pre-trial detention) the real act of collusion here? It would appear that the real purpose of pre-trial (pre-indictment) detention a defendant is either part of a larger plan of coercion (akin to torture) or perhaps the prosecutor, swelled with power, is simply trigger happy!

What the Constitution Court judges must address is the allowance for pre-trial detention.  Pre-trial detention must be abolished with exceptions made only in the event of a suspect who poses a flight-risk or in the case where the suspect is reasonably feared to be violent or a danger to the public.  Potential for collusion and tampering of evidence must be removed as justifications for pre-trial detention.

Only then will the fundamental problems surrounding lawyer-detainee meetings be solved.  This is what needs to be done to bring the judicial system of Taiwan up to international standards of human rights.

Ching Jyh Shieh 

February 6, 2009

2/5/09 Article from Taiwan News:

Taiwan justices nix prosecutor bugging
Taiwan News 2009-02-05 12:06 AM

The Constitutional Court gave a gift to the Taiwan people just before the Lunar New Year by declaring that discussions between defence lawyers and clients under detention can no longer be taped or monitored by prison authorities or provided to prosecutors as of May 1. Occurring in the midst of a rollback of Taiwan human rights protection under the restored right-wing Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government, this decision is definitely worthy of praise by human rights and judicial reform advocates and should be cherished by all Taiwan citizens. On January 23, the Constitutional Court issued Interpretation Number 645 which deemed ``unconstitutional`` Article 23 Section Three of the Detention Law, which has allowed detention centers to directly monitor and tape meeting between detained defendants and their defence lawyers.

11/25/08 Washington D.C. : Dr. Shieh at the Heritage Foundation

Dr. Shieh spoke at the Heritage Foundation (a think tank in D.C.) on Tuesday 11/25. You can access the streaming video on the Heritage Foundation website, or click on the screen below to watch it from here. 

Details of the Event:

Taiwan, Democracy, and the Rule of Law
Date:    November 25, 2008
Time:    10:30 a.m.

Speaker(s):   
Ching Jyh Shieh, Former Deputy Minister of the National Science Council, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Host(s):   
Stephen J. Yates, Visiting Fellow, Asian Studies Center, The Heritage Foundation

Details:   
Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

Taiwan’s democracy is a proud achievement.  Among the more serious challenges in its continuing development are legitimate questions regarding due process and appropriate judicial procedure.  Joining us for a discussion of these issues is someone who literally is a rocket scientist, Ching Jyh Shieh.  Dr. Shieh lived through a two-year process of detention, trial, and eventual acquittal on July 30 this year.  His personal experience sheds light on the seriousness of the problem, its context and what can be done to fix it.

Dr. Shieh's Speaking Tour Dates

sorry we are so late in posting this, but here are the dates and locations where Dr. Shieh is speaking in the United States (and selling his book!)

11/04/2008 Dr. Shieh's Book tops the charts!!

10/12 Taipei Times reports on case and book launch

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/10/12/2003425702

Former defendants accuse politicians and media of bias

By Loa Iok-Sin
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Oct 12, 2008, Page 2

The former defendants in a corruption scandal involving a former National Science Council (NSC) deputy minister and the nation’s leading rocket scientist accused the media and politicians yesterday of manipulating the case.

Yesterday marked the launching of a new book by scientist Shieh Ching-jyh’s (謝清志), who wrote about the long judicial process from 2006 to the middle of this year and shared some stories from his personal life.

The 10 defendants, including Shieh, members of an NSC bidding review committee and Sheus Technologies Corp owner Hsu Hung-chang (許鴻章), were indicted in 2006 after legislators and a rival bidder accused them of rigging the bid on a construction tender to reduce vibrations caused by the high speed rail as it passes through the Southern Taiwan Science Park.

High-tech companies operating in the park, such as chip manufacturers, are extremely sensitive to vibrations above 48 decibels.

Prosecutors recommended a 15-year sentence and a fine of NT$30 million (US$925,400) for Shieh when the indictment was submitted on Dec. 25, 2006. Nine of the defendants — with the exception of Hsu — were acquitted by the Tainan District Court at the end of July.

“Politicians manipulated the issue for their own gains, while the media followed by exaggerating the case,” Lin Tsung-yi (林聰意), one of the defendants and an NSC review committee member told the audience at the book launching.

“What’s worse is prosecutors handled the case based mostly on media reports, not on their own investigations,” he said.

Shieh, who expressed his gratitude to friends and family for their warm support during the trial, echoed Lin’s view in his book.

“I brought a lot of documents with me and prepared a PowerPoint presentation just like I did when I taught at universities to try to explain to legislators why the methodology Sheus employed was better than those offered by its rivals and which is why we picked Sheus,” Shieh wrote in the book. “But [the legislators] just wouldn’t listen to me.”

10/11 Taipei: Dr. Shieh's Book Party

Dr. Shieh addresses the members of the gathering, thanking everyone for their support.

 

Here's our dear friend SuFan with Dr. Shieh, who let us know that the party was a great success, full of emotion for all involved.  SuFan sent us these photos.  Thanks!

"Make our own Home a Better Place to Live": Nobel Laureate Y.T. Lee, introduction to Dr. Shieh's book

Professor Y. T. Lee is a graduate from UC Berkeley and a Professor at Berkeley, where he was in 1986 when received his Nobel Prize in Particle Chemistry.  In 1994, Lee gave up his U.S. citizenship, went back to Taiwan, and devoted himself to, as goes the proverb (in mandarin: 造好我們的家園) "making his home town a better place to live."  Repeatedly he was insulted by the radical pro-unification groups because of his political position in siding with native thinking of his country, yet he faced these attacks fearlessly.  Dr. Shieh, who is honored to have Professor Lee's introduction, said that Professor Lee is "A man who is willing to endorse and recommend my book, I think, because my incident has touched his deep feeling and reflects his own thought." 

A condensed version of the text was published in Taiwan's Liberty Times.  Here is the link:
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2008/new/oct/8/today-o2.htm#

The text has been pasted below.

造好我們的家園

◎ 李遠哲

我 第一次到南科預定地參觀時，在甘蔗田裡聽說高鐵要從南科通過，心中覺得很奇怪。如果高鐵路線已定，為什麼南科還要選在高鐵兩旁？那不是自找麻煩嗎？那時我 擔心的倒不是高鐵可能帶來的振動，而是高鐵經過時所產生的磁場可能會干擾到南科的精密儀器。沒想到後來南科振動問題獲得解決，成功解決問題的國科會副主委謝清志博士竟以「圖利」罪名被檢察官起訴，並受到難以讓人相信的折磨與考驗。

謝 清志博士接手高鐵防振的任務時，並沒有一個大家都能接受的「合理可行」的方案，他要經過一段「研究」的階段之後，才能找出真正能夠達到目的的方案。這不是 一件簡單的事。詳細拜讀謝博士在本書所敘述的經過之後，我同意他的許多好友的看法：「南科減振應該得到勳章，不是牢獄。」

其實在過去的十多年內，像謝清志那樣滿懷著熱忱為國為民奉獻心力的人，有不少受到冤枉；經過「拘提」、「牢獄之災」之後，最後才被證明清白無辜。也許我們應該慶幸法律終究能夠還給一個人清白，但是如果法治不夠健全，讓很多人不願意擔任公職，或者遇事畏首畏尾，不敢勇於任事，對我們的社會恐怕是沒有好處的。

一位資深的法學界朋友一直希望加強法官和檢察官的培養與法制的改革，他認為法官從地方法院、高等法院一路晉升，也許還能提供成長的機會；但是年輕熱心的檢察官在沒有足夠的歷練之下，難免判斷錯誤並偶爾會冤枉好人。

被法官認定為「審慎守法的謝清志」在書中讓讀者們知道我們生活的社會現況，我認為這是本書最為珍貴的部分。

這 個社會有許多令人失望的地方，但也有令人鼓舞的一面。謝清志經過牢獄訴訟走出光明之後，能夠把這段辛酸史以生動的文筆傳達給在這塊土地上掙扎的人，他讓我 們瞭解到，除非我們意志堅強，否則我們是無法走出黑暗，迎接光明的。也許世界上有許多事靠的是幸運，但是我們也該知道，「幸運的女神較會照顧做好準備的 人」。

（作者為中央研究院院士，完整版本請參見該書序文）

Book Party on Saturday (Oct. 11) Taipei

A book party will take place in Taipei on Saturday, October 11, to mark its release, but also to honor and acknowledge all the defendents and their families who have undergone this ordeal together.  Please see the Mandarin Language Blog for further details.

10/08 Dr. Shieh's book is published

Dr. Shieh has been working very hard on his memoirs over the last couple of years.  These writings began while he was in detention--in part a way to stay psychologically strong in the face of such injustice and a way to speak directly to his wife and children, from whom he was forcefully isolated.  In detention, writing allowed Dr. Shieh to painstakingly itemize his experience, carefully reconstructing the events that led to this disaster, such that he would be able to make completely clear to himself and slowly convince himself that he did not succumb to an inadvertent lack of judgment. 

 

This process has continued beyond the jail cell and the the story has been expanded to Dr. Shieh's broader life--his journey Taiwan to the United States and back to Taiwan, following the desire to return and, as Taiwanese Nobel Laureate Y.T. Lee has said of this particular group of Taiwanese, work to make our own home a better place to live [造好我們的家園]. 

International Travel Restriction--Lifted!

While under investigation, back in Spring 2006, Dr. Shieh was formally restricted from travelling outside of Taiwan.

Finally, more than two years later, the foreign travel restriction has finally been lifted.

On August 25, 2008 the Tainan District Court House, following the judges’ “not guilty” verdict, issued an official document (no. 970041430), which referenced the "Very high profile and serious Indictment Case No. 1." Here is a summary of what appears in the document (a copy of which is shown below):

Subject:
Please remove the restriction on foreign travel to Ching Jyh Shieh

Explanation:
1. The restriction was imposed by the Prosecution Office (doc. no.28364) dated 2006/4/25, and later by the Tainan District Court House (doc. no.0950031473) dated 2006/7/21 for being under suspicion of corruption/embezzlement.
2. Please note that the restriction is no longer necessary.

This notice was addressed to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Immigration Bureau and the Coast Guard Patrolling Bureau, as well as cc'd to the higher courts and Ching Shieh.

8/25/08 Orange County Register: Fountain Valley man acquitted in Taiwan probe

Click here to read the article on the Orange County Register's website.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Fountain Valley man acquitted in Taiwan probe
Family jubilation is short lived as Taiwanese prosecutor appeals decision.

By VIK JOLLY

The Orange County Register

A Fountain Valley man hoping to put a corruption indictment in Taiwan behind him and return to the United States will now have to wait until a higher court rules on the case.

A three-judge lower court acquitted Ching Jyh Shieh, 66, who faced up to 15 years in jail, of corruption charges, but a prosecutor has appealed the decision.

Shieh had given up his U.S. citizenship to return to his native Taiwan in 1995 and quickly rose to prominence, becoming a deputy minister and a presidential appointee to the country's National Science Council.

But in 2006 he quit his post and was jailed for 59 days as part of an investigation that ended in charges that he steered a contract worth more than $200 million to a friend. The contract, awarded by a science council committee that Shieh led, was to build a buffer around a government industrial park in the southern city of Tainan to dampen vibrations from a high-speed rail line.

Nine of the 10 people indicted as part of the probe were acquitted on July 30, according to published reports and Shieh's family.

"While we all felt jubilant about the acquittal verdict from the lower court at that day of announcement, the embarrassed prosecutor wasted no time to express that they would appeal and he did just that … right before the deadline," Ching Shieh said in an e-mail, adding that the appeal is routine.

Pacific Times: Shieh Family Reaction to Verdict

On August 4, Pacific Times (L.A.-based Mandarin Language Newspaper) contacted the Shieh Family for their response to the verdict.  The following was released by Dr. Shieh's son, Dr. Perry Shieh.  It is originally in English, but was translated into Mandarin for publication, which we will post as soon as we can get a copy of it.

Although we welcome the acquittal, we feel that this has been long overdue. It is unbelievable that this straightforward case would have taken two and a half years to go from investigation to verdict.  Many other cases have taken only a few months.  Although the public now recognizes that the judicial system finds no convincing evidence to suggest any crime has taken place, anyone who looks at the "evidence" and the details of the case will see that the case was based solely on conjecture and shaky evidence, and the indictment was absurd from the very beginning.

The case has taken a tremendous emotional and financial toll on our family the past two years as we have struggled to achieve some semblance of normal life in the extraordinary legal storm they have thrown upon us.  It is clear now in retrospect that the investigating  prosecutors overreacted when they detained him, and although they found no evidence to support their case, they were in too deep to back out of the case; thus they indicted him based on far-fetched conspiracy theories.  In the U.S., this case would never have gone to indictment; unfortunately, in Taiwan, the prosecutors have too much power, obviously a vestige of the old dictatorship regime of Chiang Kai-Shek.

Even as the court has made their final verdict on this case, the investigating prosecutor, Kao feng-chi, has sworn that the prosecution will appeal.  We will see if the court prosecutor, Chien Kuang Chang, honors Mr. Kao's threat.  It is also unclear on what grounds Mr. Kao believes the prosecution should appeal;  I would like to point out that in the Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Japan, and the U.S. (5th amendment of the U.S. Constitution), the law of double jeopardy would prevent the prosecution from appealing.  Regardless, we are thus saddened to see a prosecutor in Taiwan allow his political biases and his pride to interfere with his ability enforce the law in an objective and neutral fashion.

August 1, 2008 Taipei Times

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/08/01/2003419122

Tainan court finds former NSC official not guilty of graft

By Jimmy Chuang
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Aug 01, 2008, Page 4
The Tainan District Court on Wednesday found former deputy minister of the National Science Council Shieh Ching-jyh (謝清志) innocent of corruption charges.

Ten defendants, including Shieh and Hsu Hung-chang (許鴻章), owner of Sheus Technologies Corp —also known as Hung Hua Engineering — were indicted in 2006, accused of corruption by a rival bidder after Sheus won an NT$8.05 billion (US$262 million) construction tender to reduce the vibrations caused by the high speed rail as it passes through the Southern Taiwan Science Park.

High-tech companies with operations in the park, such as chip manufacturers, are extremely sensitive to vibrations above 48 decibels.

Hsu was sentenced to five months in prison, while the judges decided to drop all charges against the rest of the defendants.

“There was insufficient evidence to prove Shieh’s guilt. Therefore the court had no option other than to rule in favor of him,” the verdict read.

7/30/2008 verdict: NOT GUILTY

JULY 30, 2008

verdict announced: NOT GUILTY

The Tainan Disctrict Court announced today that it finds all the defendants in the "Tainan Science Park Vibration Mitigation" case not guilty. 

According to Central News Agency (CNA) in Taiwan, the presiding judge supported his verdict on two main points.  The first was that Dr. Shieh, former Deputy Minister of the National Science Council, could not be held solely responsible for the project due to the fact that both the Minister and the Prime Minister both officially approved and oversaw project.  The second point was that the physical evidence presented to support the accusations was wrongly represented: one of the main pieces of evidence was a document that the prosecution claimed was confidentially and that Dr. Shieh purposely leaked it to the winning bidder.  In fact, the document in question was from the beginning a publicly circulated, non-confidential document that was available to everyone involved on the project.

A note from Dr. Shieh:

I would like to express my comfort and deep appreciation for all the support and encouragement from all over the world.  I would also like to say that the "Tainan Science Park Vibration Mitigation" project was an example of a pioneering and great achievement in vibration mitigation engineering in the world. Since the project was completed on October 31st of 2006, it has been working effectively to enable the continuation of work at the Tainan Science Park, which contributes several hundred of billions, even trillions of NT to Taiwan's economy.

Of course, the damage and insults that have occurred in the past two years cannot be erased. The results from the first phase have only been to show the innocence of all the defendants in this case. If justice still exists in Taiwan, I appeal to you to applaud to all people who participated in this project.

following from CNA:

【謝清志部落格新聞稿】2008/7/30
清白無罪  謝清志感欣慰

台南地方法院今日（卅日）就「南科高鐵減振工程案」一審宣判所有被告無罪。對此，被告前國科會副主委謝清志表示欣慰，並感謝各界二年來的支持與鼓勵。

謝清志表示，南科高鐵減振工程是世界創舉，也是世界減振工程上的成就，二○○六年十月卅一日完工後，目前正發揮功效，確保了南科數千億上看兆元的年產值。

謝清志認為，過去二年來「傷害」與「委屈」已造成，今日一審宣判結果，只是還所有被告一個清白；如果台灣社會還有「公道」，請不吝給予所有團隊成員應有的「掌聲」。 

 

UPDATE: July 15, 2008

Below is a recent picture of Dr. Shieh at Snow Mountain in Taiwan.  Dr. Shieh and his young friend behind him have a combined age of 101!

TRIAL UPDATE!! (From Dr. Shieh)

It has been a long time since the last update of my criminal case trial in Taiwan.  The lengthy trial procedure is finally over and I think it is a good moment to give another update before the formal announcement of the verdict, which is scheduled for July 30—the end of this month.

The trial consisted of three main parts.  The first part of the trial consisted in 14 sessions of preparatory procedures during which all the material cited as evidence by the prosecutor in the written indictment was reviewed and refuted in court by all accused parties, three on-site judges and approximately 15 attorneys representing 10 defendants.  This part, held monthly, lasted 13 months (from March 2007 through March 2008), with each session lasting approximately 2 to 3 hours.

The second part of the trial was allotted for cross-examination.  There were 5 sessions of cross-examination, held weekly, from April 8, 2008 through May 7, 2008. In the course of these 5 sessions, 15 witnesses were called to the stand to answer questions raised by the judges, the prosecutor and the attorneys. There were about 3 to 4 witnesses summoned for inquiry each time, and the court was in session for an entire day each time--from 10am to 6pm.

UPDATE: January 12, 2008

A reminder: Dr. Shieh's detention began  May 25, 2006,  and he was released 59 days later on July 22.  Charges were filed by the investigator on December 25, 2006.

Christmas Day, 2007 marked 1 year and 7 months since detainment and exactly one year since charges were filed against Dr. Shieh, accusing him of "Favoritism."

Dr. Shieh is still restricted from traveling outside of Taiwan.
Preparatory court proceedings have been ongoing since March, 2006; the formal trial has NOT begun.

On Wednesday, December 26, the whole family attended one of Dr. Shieh's preparatory court hearings in Tainan. One judge, seated at an elevated bench, presided over the court, while to either side, the prosecutor and defending attorneys sit at tables.  Only Dr. Shieh and the HongHua Contractor were required to attend this meeting, so they sat in chairs directly facing the judge, and between the lawyers.  As room is limited, HongHua's three lawyers sat at the designated table, whereas Dr. Shieh's lawyers sat behind the bar, with the family and audience. The proceedings lasted about 2 hours total.  The defendants spoke only at the beginning to identify themselves and to give their addresses.  The defendants spent the rest of the time sitting quietly while the judge and lawyers discussed the case.   

During that court meeting, a following court date was set for Friday, January 11, where all 10 defendants and their respective lawyers will be required to attend. Update on Jan 11 court date coming soon...

12/27 Rosalyne gives talk at NCKU architecture department

Rosalyne gave a talk to architecture students at Chengkung University in Tainan on her project, Ornament/Pattern/Organization.

Freedom Square

Connie at the newly re-named Freedom Square.

There is an exhibit in the main hall of Freedom Square dedicated to the Democracy movement in Taiwan. 

12/23/2007 Jingmei Detention Center

The Jingmei Detention center in Taipei was were many Taiwanese political "insurgents" were held by the KMT for many years.  Vice President Annette Liu is only one of the several  who have spent time there.  Jingmei was recently opened to the public and houses a permanent exhibit on the Human Rights and Democracy movements in Taiwan and overseas.  It is staffed by dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers who answer questions and show visitors around the complex. 

In fact, the important part is the small words in the righthand side, not the large characters.  It states that all prisoners of the jail, in addition to the staff, were thankful to Chiang Kai-shek for his grand kindness and hence paid to build the pavilion to show their gratitude.  The obvious absurdity here is that these were people who had been grossly mistreated and humiliated by Chiang, but were forced to express their gratitude to him in such a display.

close-up view:

Happy Holidays from the Shieh Family

Dear Friends,

Happy new year to everyone!  As Dr. Shieh is still restricted from traveling outside of Taiwan, the whole Shieh family gathered in Taiwan this year to celebrate the holidays together.  Connie flew in from Fountain Valley, Perry from Los Angeles and Rosalyne from New York.  Dr. Shieh likes to say that since this whole thing has occurred, the globe has turned back upon itself and begun to rotate the other way: where he used to have to fly to the U.S. several times a year to see and spend time with his family, now everyone must come to him!

Thank you for your continued support and the Shieh Family wishes you the very best for the new year!

www.SupportChing.com

Help by Making a Donation

If you would like to make a donation, you may send checks directly to Dr. Shieh's lawyers:

Formosa Transnational Attorneys at Law
Attention: Wellington Koo
15th Fl, Lotus Building
136, JenAi Rd., Sec. 3
Taipei, 106
Taiwan

(make checks payable to "Formosa Transnational Attorneys at Law," and please include a note that mentions the donation is for Dr. Ching Jyh Shieh's case)

Please let us know at supportching@gmail.com so we can thank you and double check that the donation is received.

UPDATE: July 30, 2007

July 30, 2007: UPDATE

Court Sessions (to date)

                          participants

March 14              All parties
June 6, June 12    Evaluation Committee Members
May 30, June 27   Dr. Shieh
May 16, June 27   Hong Hua (Construction Company)

While each participant only attends the dates specifically assigned to him, transcripts of the sessions are made available to all participants after each session.  Information about the sessions of the other defendants have been acquired from these documents.

OVERVIEW

Right now, the court proceedings are still in a state of preparation.  What that means is that the judge presiding over the case opens the court for a series of sessions in which all parties come to a clearer understanding of the case, where the indictment is scrutinized, charges clarified, and evidence and witnesses are carefully vetted.  Preparatory trial proceedings began on March 14, 2007 in Tainan, with all parties present (the prosecution team, presiding judge, and all 10 defendants and their respective lawyers). 

At the end of the court session on March 14, the judge asked the prosecutor to rewrite the indictment.  The original indictment was approximately 14,000 characters, 24 pages.  The judge asked that the prosecutor clarify the charges and suggested that the indictment could be substantially reduced.  Statements in the indictment included such phrases as "masterminded by the Deputy Minister," "project was manufactured and unnecessary," and "intended to create the project in order to benefit the contractor."  The judge called the style of the indictment "unorthodox" and suggested that 2 pages would probably be enough.  The original indictment document counted 70 charges against Dr. Shieh.

On May 30, the prosecutor returned with a rewritten indictment at 8,000 characters, 14 pages.  In the rewritten indictment document the number of charges against Dr. Shieh dropped dramatically to 30.

On May 30, Dr. Shieh's lawyers proposed that each defense team take the indictment paper and list line-by-line all disputes each team would like to raise against the stated point.  These line-by-line disputes would be compiled and then given to the prosecutor such that the prosecutor can prepare their witnesses and evidence to support their claims.

The judge agreed to this method and asked all 10 defendants to prepare their own documents.  The judge then asked the prosecution how long it would take for them to prepare a response to these documents, and the prosecution answered that it would take 2 months. 

On June 27, Dr. Shieh's legal team submitted their 95 disputes to the indictment.  Based on the prosecution's time estimate, it will be at least the end of August before the court opens again.

HongHua submitted their disputes on July 18, and all evaluators have received notice to prepare similar documents relevant to their individual cases.

Travel to Taroko Village near Hualien

Rosalyne is staying with Ching for two months...learning some hanji and traveling.  July 13-15 Ching and Rosalyne took a trip with Maysing and some other friends to the Taroko village in the mountains near Hualien.

Just like when he was young, Ching chases dragonflies and catches frogs in the creek!  This little guy doesn't look so amused...but seems to tolerate the attention:

The water is so clean...you can clearly see all the way down to the bottom:

July 2007, Family Reunion in Taipei

For the first time in many years, the Shieh family was all together in one place.  In July we had a chance to spend three days together in Taipei as a family...thanks to Crystal Chen for taking our family photos!

March 14, 2007 TRIAL: First Hearing

The following details the first proceedings of Dr. Shieh's trial.  This first meeting functions like a pretrial, where the judge calls all the defendants, lawyers and prosecutors together to discuss the charges, witnesses, evidence and all issues relating to the trial.

In this case, the 25-member group constituting the defendants and their lawyers gathered in the Tainan court to address the charges that had been brought against them--clearly expressing their puzzlement and indignation.  The result of the meeting is almost humorous--the new prosecutor himself had to struggle to make head and tail of the indictment document!

March 14, 2007: TRIAL BEGINS
Preliminary Hearing
Tainan, Taiwan

At exactly 10 am, the 10 defendants, their 15 attorneys and several family members packed into a small courtroom.  Judge Ho, a friendly man in his forties, tried to make everybody in the courtroom comfortable, speaking in a soft tone.  The trial was then formally called into session.  Sitting at the table to the left of Judge Ho were a prosecutor and two investigators.  Although the three chairs at the table are reserved only for prosecutors, the investigators, who were merely assistants to the prosecutor, decided to take their seats at these chairs.  At the table to the right were two chairs for the attorneys representing the defendants. Because of the limited space, the rest of the attorneys had to sit behind the defendants with the family members of the accused.
Before the proceedings began, the prosecutor requested to distribute an “addendum” to the original indictment document that was issued on December 25, 2006. Every attorney was handed a copy of the so-called addendum.  The lawyers quickly realized that the addendum was actually a new version of the indictment paper.  The lawyers then motioned to the court that a revised indictment may contain new evidence and that the document would require time for study.  They asked that the hearing be rescheduled.  The prosecutor then argued that the changes involved only minor corrections to typographical errors and did not contain any new charges or evidence.  The judge, reluctant to reschedule the hearing, asked the prosecutor to explain the changes.  During the explanation, it became clear that the prosecutor discovered some inconsistencies and even changed parts of the original story so that their facts and dateswould match up.
The prosecutor was then asked to present the facts and evidence of crimes committed by accused.  The prosecutor started to read the text of the new indictment paper, mumbling under his breath.  After five minutes, he had only finished the first page of the 24-page document.  The judge then asked him to stop and simply state the crimes committed.  The prosecutor then stated that the nine evaluators, all defendants in addition to the contractor, were charged with favoritism.  In addition, Dr. Ching Shieh of National Science Council was charged with the additional crime of revealing non-defense secrets to the contractor.  The contractor was charged with taking unlawful profits from a government project and violating corporate law.

December 25, 2006: CHARGES FILED

12/25/2006: CHARGES FINALLY FILED

Five months after Dr. Shieh's release from detention, nearly 1 year after the investigation was initiated, four months after the project was complete, and one month before the High Speed Railway is due to be fully operational, Tainan prosecutors announced the indictment of 10 individuals, including 9 referees they allege were conspiring to steer the Vibration Reduction Project to Sheus Technologies, Inc.

On December 25, the prosecution held a news conference announcing the indictment of 10 people in connection with the high-speed railway case.  They indicted all 9 voting members of the committee that reviewed the project, including Dr. Shieh, as well as indicting Sheu of Sheus Technologies--the winning bidder.  These charges were announced directly to the press without any of indictees or people involved being informed beforehand.  Furthermore, the prosecution has essentially admitted their own political bias when they pejoratively referred to Dr. Shieh's overseas supporters as "independence cronies."

The prosecution, citing charges of favoritism against all 10 indictees, asked that Dr. Shieh be jailed for 15 years as well as be fined approximately 1 million US dollars.  For the other 8 voting members of the committee (made up of various engineering experts, academicians, as well as a consulting lawyer specializing in government acquisition contracts) they asked for jail time ranging between 5-7 years and 100,000 US dollars in fine.  The prosecution asked Sheu be jailed for 12 years and pay a 15 million US dollar fine. 

No charges of bribery have been made as no evidence of bribery has been found.  The allegations against the defendants are for favoritism--that is, willingly steering the project to the winning bidder without reciprocal benefit, (e.g. some sort of "kick-back").

Furthermore, the prosecution is alleging that the project was expensive and useless, because it could not achieve the 48 decibel requirement that was originally requested by Science Park clients. They allege that the committee and Dr. Shieh pushed for the project to go through such that they could steer the project to Sheu, although without any benefit to themselves.  The decision of what is considered effective, however, should be made by a panel of experts (i.e. the evaluation committee) rather than a panel of lawyers who are fishing for a reason to prosecute someone.  It has been made clear from the beginning that the 48 decibel figure was the ambient background vibration levels at the time the project was conceived.  It served as a goal rather than a formal requirement, as background vibrations are sometimes higher than 48 decibels and it is not possible to reduce vibrations lower than background ambient levels.  Furthermore, the necessity of the project will be further reinforced when the full report on the efficacy of vibration reduction is released at the end of January 2007. Preliminary measurements on the efficacy of the project demonstrate that the system is highly effective at reducing vibrations from the high speed railway to nearly 48 decibels. 

The prosecution is basing their allegation that the project was unneccessary on testimony from an individual who speculates that the committee members were selected by Sheu (the winning bidder). Not only is the statement false, it is not substantiated with evidence and is therefore hearsay. 

It goes without saying that a charge insisting 9 highly reputable experts and academicians in engineering and law colluded to fabricate this project and demonstrate favoritism without any reciprocal benefit is absurd.  Most importantly, the job is already finished, preliminary measurements are very favorable, and the science park clients are happy.  If there is any doubt, we will find out next month if the committee made the right choice.

Please check back for frequent updates as we will be updating this website as information comes in.

Harvard University Students Invite Dr. Shieh to Speak

"We have been inspired by your passion for Taiwan and success as an engineer.  The ITASA 2007 East Coast Conference will be a wonderful opportunity for the next generation of Taiwanese American leaders to connect and learn from you." --Harvard University ITASA

Harvard University Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students' Association invited Dr. Shieh to speak at their conference in February 2007.  The request was made to the prosecutor, but denied. 

Download letter_from_harvard_itasa.pdf

Dr. Shieh's detainment posted to OC Register blog

11/21: Dr. Shieh's description of his detainment published on the OC Register blog.

http://blogs.ocregister.com/ocworld/2006/11/fountain_valley_man_held_in_ta_1.html

Correspondence with AIT

In August, Ching prepared a document detailing his experiences in the detention center, with particular focus on situations in which he experienced or witnessed his fellow detainees experience treatment that compromised the said person's human rights.  We believe that, apart from the issues of the trial, these occurrences need to be brought to the attention of the public and that the handling of detainees and accused persons by the Taiwanese legislative system must be revised to meet the standards of a fully-developed country.

The statement was notarized at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in Taipei.  Due to the sensitive nature of the material, we will not reproduce that document here at this time.  However, posted below is the correspondence between Rosalyne and Dr. Stephen Young, director of the AIT.

The story of Taiwan, a rocket, and a flag. Posted 10/26/2006

October 26, 2006––By law, Dr. Shieh is forbidden from discussing or posting specifics about his case until the "investigatory phase" of his case is over.  To date, they have not indicted him on any charges, despite his 59 day detainment.  So as not to violate any laws, he has written this memoir that describes his efforts in the recent launch of FORMOSAT III, Taiwan's third satellite. (translated by Vickie Chen).

In February of this year, I went to the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to oversee preparations for the launch of the satellite, FORMOSAT III. Naturally, the primary purpose of my visit was to ensure a successful launch, but equally important was to visit our dedicated National Space Program Organization (NSPO--go to www.nspo.org.tw to learn more about Taiwan's space program!) colleagues stationed there who had been working around the clock for FORMOSAT III. Imagine the sub-par workrooms, filled with equipment, cables, and computers where they spent their days and nights. If the test results did not match the calculations, they would need to burn the midnight oil to find out why. Was it the equipment? Perhaps the cables weren’t connected properly? Or was it the computers? God forbid the problem was with the satellite itself! The list of possible problems was endless and when you add in the pressure of a tight schedule, it’s amazing that they didn’t lose their minds! After work, they had but a small room in a local hotel to return to. The town near the launch site was small and quiet, with few recreational activities and nothing that resembles home. After four months, even the best steaks in town begin to taste bland. The solitude alone would be enough to drive a person mad; but these efforts were for the advancement of Taiwan and these dedicated workers persevered without complaint. They gladly endured hardship for the sake of their country.

FORMOSAT III was the third launch mission since Taiwan decided to begin promoting space technology in 1990. Both of the previous satellites were launched into orbit and successfully carried out their delegated missions.  FORMOSAT I, the first satellite, was relieved of its missions in 2004 due to solar cell deterioration.

October 17, 2006: HAPPY 65th

October 17, 2006: HAPPY 65th BIRTHDAY to Ching!!

It's so wonderful to be able to call and hear your voice on your birthday, dad...or any moment of any day...whenever we like. We both love you and can't wait to see you again soon.

Missing you, Rosalyne and Perry.

photos: Tainan Detention Center

Dr. Shieh revisits the Tainan Detention center with members of his family to show them where he spent 59 days.

Here's the sign from the road as you approach the detention center:

photos: Tainan Science Park Project

Dr. Shieh visits the vibration reduction project site at the Southern Taiwan Science Park.

Below you can see the stretch of the high speed railway that runs through the Park.  This picture is taken from the roof of one of the buildings.  The railway has not opened for service, but you can see the train on the tracks--one of the several tests that run each day.

Julian Ertz, former attorney of

Julian Ertz, former attorney of Dr. and Mrs. Shieh provided us with a copy of the letter he wrote to Senator Dianne Feinstein on Dr. Shieh's behalf.

Photos: Ching, Rosalyne, Kai-Lin and Maysing in Taipei

8/27
Ching and Rosalyne in Taipei

Letter of support from Ireland

We received this wonderful letter of support from Mr. Alan Mulcany in Ireland...

Aug 26
Dear Dr Shyeh

As an Irishman who has lived and worked in Taiwan, I feel compelled to send you this letter of support, and let you know that I received the news about your release with immense joy.
And when you are fully cleared of all charges, I will react with even more joy.

American Institute in Taiwan's Letter

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) response