Finally released on bail on July 21 after being detained 59 days.
The prosecutor's motion to extend his detention to 4 months was denied on July 21, 2006. Charges still have NOT been filed.
Dr. Ching Shieh recently resigned from the position of Deputy Minister of the National Science Council (NSC) in Taiwan. He is being investigated under suspicion of corruption regarding a project at the Southern Taiwan Science Park to reduce vibrations from the high-speed railway that is being built adjacent to the Science Park. Dr. Shieh was arrested and held incommunicado for nearly two months. During this time, the prosecutor searched and examined the financial records of Dr. Shieh and all of his personal assistants, questioned all members of the project selection comittee, and questioned NSC personnel and consultants involved the project. To this day, the prosecutors have not found any evidence of bribery or embezzlement, but continue to propose elaborate theories on money laundering that they do not substantiate. On July 21, 2006, the prosecutors petitioned to extend his detainment to four months. That motion was denied.
All of us who know Dr. Shieh and have worked with him throughout many years know him as a person of exceptional integrity, conscience and kindness. He exercises his skills and duties with honesty and a great sense of responsibility. We are incensed that these allegations have been made and that he was held for 59 days even as there have not been any formal charges brought against him. He was not allowed any direct communication with friends or family (the terms of his detainment explicitly prohibited any meeting with friends and family, "禁見") and his civil liberties were reduced to those of a dangerous criminal. This is clearly demonstrates lack of due process of law, an abuse of procedural discretion and an unconscionable violation of Dr. Shieh's civil and human rights. We must protest the actions of the prosecution; the failure to do so will only become a form of silent approval for this injustice--this would threaten the preservation of civil and human rights everywhere.
Please help us to make it known in Taiwan that the international community is watching. Write your representatives and senators and let them know that their constituents are concerned about this.
>> Read more about Dr. Shieh's case - short or detailed version
