Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Kuomintang, the leading
opposition party in Taiwan, appeared in court on Tuesday for the
fourth hearing of his trial in which he is charged with misusing
more than 11 million Taiwan dollars (US$330,000) in expense funds
during his tenure as mayor of Taipei.
The judges checked the names of the witnesses put forward by the
plaintiff and the defendant and adjourned the court until June 5.
Ma pleaded not guilty to the charges in April.
In an interview with the media outside the courtroom, Ma
reaffirmed his innocence and complained that his case was being
moved along quicker than similar cases involving leaders of the
ruling Democrat Progressive Party (DPP), which he said were moving
at a "limited" speed.
Ma resigned as KMT chairman after the indictment but immediately
declared that he would run for the 2008 Taiwan leader election.
The expense funds, also known as special allowance funds, are
allocated by the Taiwan authorities to executive officers at
various levels in Taiwan. Official receipts are only required for
half the special allowance funds, while the spending of the other
half only requires the signature of the official.
Regulations concerning the expenditure of government special
allowances have never been clear. Lu Hsiu-lien, Su Tseng-chang,
Hsieh Chang-ting and Yu Shyi-kun, major leaders of the ruling
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have all been found involved in
similar cases, but prosecutors seem to be lying down on
investigations.
(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2007)