Taiwan ex-leader Ma faces new charges over leaks scandal

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s former president Ma Ying-jeou was slapped with new charges on Tuesday in a political leaks controversy, just weeks before he faces possible conviction in another related case. While still in office Ma was protected by political immunity.

But since he stepped down as leader in May last year he has been hit with a range of corruption and other allegations.

Ma’s Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party held power from 2008 to 2016, before they were trounced by Tsai Ing-wen and her opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Taipei prosecutors acting on behalf of the government charged Ma on Tuesday with leaking secrets to the island’s then premier Jiang Yi-huah and an aide about a confidential judicial probe in 2013. They also accused him of instructing a top prosecutor to disclose confidential information to Jiang.

The 2013 investigation at the heart of the controversy was looking into whether the parliamentary speaker at the time -- a political rival of Ma -- had influenced a case against an opposition lawmaker.

Ma told reporters on Tuesday he was confident of his innocence and vowed to "fight to the end for justice".

"I will explain at court that the matter was about handling official affairs and crisis management and that it did not constitute a crime," he said.

"I hope the court will make a correct verdict based on fairness and justice."

Taipei prosecutors said on Tuesday that even though Ma has declared he was unaware of and would not interfere with the 2013 judicial probe, he "leaked information that should have been kept confidential".

They indicted him for leaking non-defence secrets as well as violating the communication security and surveillance act, which carries a maximum three-year jail term.

The KMT protested the indictment as "political persecution". But the DPP criticised Ma, accusing him of meddling with the judiciary.

Ma has already appeared in court three times over separate charges brought by a lawmaker relating to the 2013 judicial probe.

That lawsuit accuses Ma of asking the then prosecutor-general to leak secrets to him about the investigation, also punishable by a maximum three-year jail term. The verdict is due later this month.

The leaks controversy sparked a political storm in 2013 and saw two top officials resign, while thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand Ma’s resignation.