Corrupt Judge Li Tung-ying Sent Back from the Mainland

Corrupt Judge Li Tung-ying Sent Back from the Mainland

Sources: All Taipei newspapers

October 29, 2010

The Supreme Court in 2008 sentenced Li Tung-ying, a former Tainan District Court judge, on final appeal on charges of corruption, to 11 years in prison for shielding a house of ill repute run by his paramour. However, on the eve of going to prison, Li fled to the Mainland by paying a fishing boat NT$ 400,000 to smuggle him to Xiamen. The Mainland police arrested Li in Zhuhai for using a fake passport to disguise his true identity, and yesterday the Mainland side handed him over to agents from the National Immigration Agency under the Ministry of the Interior, who brought him back.

Li Tung-ying is the first corrupt judge to have been sent back to Taiwan by the Mainland after a cross-Strait agreement on joint crime fighting and mutual assistance in judicial matters came into effect. Chang Ping-lung, a former judge at the Taiwan Provincial High Court Hualien Branch who was also sentenced to 11 years in prison for corruption, is believed to still be hiding from justice on the Mainland. The Bureau of Investigation is currently working through its channels to bring Chang back to Taiwan.

In addition, Yang Ting-chang, the newly appointed President of the Taiwan Provincial High Court, was sworn in yesterday. During the hand-over ceremony, he stated the whole judicial system was shamed owing to involvement in corruption by High Court judges; he went on to say that his first priority was to underscore discipline. He said that judges must be able to resist every temptation, and that all judges should not only conduct self-discipline, but also work hard to maintain the independence of trial and improve the quality of their rulings.

Huang Shui-tong, the immediate past President of the Taiwan Provincial High Court, tendered his resignation on July 13 to shoulder the responsibility for the collective bribery scandal involving three High Court judges.

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