President approves resignation of judicial chief over graft scandal

+

TAIPEI, July 18 Kyodo -
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou approved Sunday the resignation of the head of
the country's judicial system, the latest victim of a corruption scandal that
has seen three high court judges and a prosecutor placed in detention.
Judicial Yuan President Lai In-jaw, who is also the chief justice of Taiwan's
highest court, offered to resign Friday to take symbolic responsibility for the
case, which has dominated local media since it broke Wednesday.
Ma agreed to the request after meeting Lai at the Presidential Office on Sunday
morning, television reports and the semiofficial Central News Agency said.
On Wednesday, the judges and the prosecutor were taken into custody over an
appeals case that saw a conviction overturned for a former Nationalist Party
(KMT) legislator accused of taking bribes in a land development venture.
Prosecutors allege the former legislator, Ho Chih-hui, paid off appeals court
judges to secure his release.
Ho reportedly fled through a back window of his home in Miaoli County early
Wednesday as the authorities closed in.
Ho, who was once the elected head of Miaoli County, remains at large, and his
escape prompted some media outlets to speculate he was tipped off by a person
or persons with knowledge of the operation.
The special prosecuting agency in the case is the same responsible for probing
former President Chen Shui-bian, who remains in custody ahead of final verdicts
on corruption charges.
==Kyodo
2010-07-18 22:32:10