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.
