Apache scandal-involved Army officers suspended from duties
2015/10/02 22:09:15
Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) Three Army officers will be suspended from their duties for their involvement in a scandal earlier this year in which civilians were brought onto a military base for an unauthorized tour of Taiwan's most advanced attack helicopters, according to a decision by the judiciary on Friday.
The decision was made by the Judicial Yuan's Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission, which is in charge of handling cases of misconduct by civil servants.
Those suspended were: Lt. Col. Lao Nai-cheng (勞乃成), a former deputy battalion commander of the 601st Aviation Brigade at the Army Aviation Special Force Command; Maj. Gen. Chien Tsung-yuan (簡聰淵), head of the 601st Aviation Brigade; and Tao Kuo-chen (陶國禎), head of the brigade's personnel affairs division.
Lao will be suspended from duties for two years, while Chien and Tao will be suspended for six months each, according to the resolution adopted by the Commission.
During their suspension period, the trio will not have the status of an active Army personnel, nor will they be paid. They will also be prohibited from taking any public sector jobs, defense officials said.
The punishment will not be enforced until the resolution is delivered to the Ministry of National Defense in accordance with administration procedures. That is expected to happen in just a matter of days.
The duty suspension, however, may not be the only consequence Lao will face, apart from his having been suspended from flying an Apache AH-64E helicopter.
Also on Friday, the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office overruled a decision by a district prosecutors' office to not indict Lao and another 14 suspects for allegedly violating the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces articles that bans the leaking of military secrets.
The high prosecutors office sent the case back to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, ordering the latter to launch a new investigation.
On March 29, Lao brought a group of people, including television hostess Janet Lee (李蒨蓉) and her family and friends from Taiwan's high society, to see the U.S.-manufactured Apaches at his base in Taoyuan's Longtan, without approval from his superiors.
Some members of the group boarded an Apache and took photos of the chopper.
The case came to light after Lee posted four photos of the Army base tour on her Facebook page, including one of her in the chopper's cockpit, drawing severe public criticism of loose security in Taiwan's military.
It later came to light that a month earlier on Feb. 22, Lao had also brought a group of 10 friends and relatives to the Apache hangar and had sneaked his Apache helmet out of the base to show friends at a private party.
A total of 15 suspects, including those who went on the tours, were named in the scandal.
However, last month district prosecutors decided not to charge all of the suspects, citing the defense ministry's explanation that the 601 brigade base is not a key military fortress.
The definition consequently makes the photos the suspects took at the Apache hanger they visited and the Apache helmet not considered military secrets, the district prosecutors office said.
The agency then delivered the ruling to the high prosecutors office for review.
But the high prosecutors office said that the charges based on which district prosecutors conducted their probe into the case are covered by a special law that is under the jurisdiction of the high prosecutors office, instead of the lower level authority.
Therefore, the district prosecutors' decision was not acceptable because it is based on the wrong legal regulations, the high prosecutors office said.
Senior prosecutors said that the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office must either change the charges or forward the case to the higher authority for handling.
(By Page Tsai, Liu Shih-yi and Elizabeth Hsu)
