'Supreme Court' acquits Taiwan's incoming leader on corruption charges
Updated: 2008-04-24 19:39
BEIJING - Taiwan's "Supreme Court" on Thursday delivered a final ruling of acquittal for the third and final trial of incoming Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou in a special fund case.
The "Supreme Court" upheld the lower courts' "not guilty" ruling, saying the prosecutors' argument for the third appeal was too vague to sway the previous verdict.
Ma, the candidate representing Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT), won the island's leadership election in March. He is due to be inaugurated on May 20.
He was first indicted in February 2007 for allegedly misusing more than 11 million New Taiwan dollars (US$ 330,000) in expense funds during his tenure as Taipei mayor between 1998 and 2006.
Lower courts cleared Ma of the graft charges in August and December, respectively, last year. After the second trial, prosecutors in Taipei asked the "Supreme Court" to rule on his acquittal.
Expense funds, also known as special allowance funds, are allocated by Taiwan authorities to executive officers. Official receipts are required for half of the funds, but the other half can be spent with only the signature of the official.
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