PRECEDENT:Giving a reduced sentence due to the suspect’s confession so late in the trial might encourage other people to follow suit, a lawyer said

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 27, 2015
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Friday said that it cannot accept the Taiwan High Court’s ruling on Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄), while legal experts said that the ruling seemed to serve wealthy and powerful elites.

The Taiwan High Court on Friday sentenced Chao to two years in prison for paying bribes to secure the contracts for three housing construction projects, with the sentence suspended for five years.

Chao was also fined NT$200 million (US$6.1 million) and had his civil rights suspended for two years. As Chao was not guilty of a major offense, the court’s verdict was final.

A statement issued by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said it will not rule out filing an extraordinary appeal.

“Our nation’s laws have always been lenient on people who paid bribes. Oftentimes when they are caught, they admit to wrongdoing and receive reduced punishments or suspended sentences. I was not too surprised at the outcome of Chao’s trial,” former Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) said.     [FULL  STORY]