TAPEI - The judge was found innocent of taking bribes in the first and second hearing of his case, but playing mahjong with a defendant led to his termination. Taiwan High Prosecutor’s Office Tainan Branch judge Hsu Hong-chi (徐宏志) was relieved of duty on Friday, the first time a judge has been sacked for playing mahjong.

Hsu, 66, likes to play mahjong, and plays more than a hundred times a year. After he ruled that former Tainan County Council speaker Chou Wu-liu (周五六) was innocent in a vote-buying lawsuit in 2001, Hsu played mahjong with Chou and Chou’s wife.

He allegedly took more than NT$10 million (US$306,000) in bribe money from Chou.

Although Hsu was found innocent of taking a bribe in his first and second hearing, he was relieved of his duties on Friday by the Committee on the Discipline of Public Functionaries because he “indulged in the game of mahjong and played it with a defendant.”

Chou was alleged to have bribed councilors before the Tainan County councilor speaker election in 1994 and allegedly offered paid vacations abroad to several councilors.

While Chou’s judges found him guilty in the first and second hearings, Hsu found him innocent in the final hearing.

It was speculated that Chou’s wife, Chen Hsiu-hsia (陳秀霞), had learned that Hsu was a mahjong fan and began playing mahjong with the judge via an introduction from Hsu’s mahjong buddy, Lin Ting-lie (林廷烈).

Taiwan High Prosecutor’s Office Tainan Branch spokesperson Yeh Ju-cheng (葉居正) said on Friday that Hsu had been suspended from his post in July 2006.
Yeh said the court would process the committee’s orders regarding his termination when it receives them. Hsu also lost his pension plan, which would have amounted to more than NT$10 million. However, he can still practice as a lawyer.

Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正) said the Ministry of Justice should restrict controversial judges from practicing law.

(Taipei Times)