Taiwan's high court will deliver the verdict for the second
trial of Ma Ying-jeou, who is being charged with embezzlement of
special allowance funds, on December 28, according to Taiwan-based
media.
The high court held a third and final hearing into the case on
Friday, before which Ma again insisted he was innocent and urged
the court to uphold the not guilty ruling of the first trial.
He said the high court judges should pay more attention to the
pitfalls of the expense funds system rather than his alleged
crime.
Chen Shui-bian and several other senior officials of Taiwan's
ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have also been accused of
misusing expense funds.
During his eight-year tenure as Taipei mayor, Ma donated 68.09
million New Taiwan dollars to charity programs, much more than the
15.35 million New Taiwan dollars expense funds he had used in the
same period, Ma told the court.
"Being sued on charges of embezzlement have made me feel even
more pain than if I lost my life," Ma said.
Ma's second trial began on Oct. 5, nearly two months after he
was cleared by a lower court on Aug. 14. Prosecutors in Taipei
successfully appealed to the high court against Ma's acquittal.
In August 2006, legislators from the DPP accused Ma of misusing
expense funds during his tenure as Taipei mayor. Ma resigned as
chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's leading
opposition party, after being indicted on Feb. 13, but declared
that he would run for the 2008 Taiwan leader election.
The KMT endorsed Ma as its candidate on June 24. Ma has made
Vincent Siew, a veteran economist, his running mate.
The expense funds, also known as special allowance funds, are
allocated by the Taiwan authorities to executive officers. Official
receipts are required for half of the funds. The spending of the
other half only requires the signature of the official.
(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2007)