The High Court acquitted Wang Longchang, and the retrial of the Nangang Exhibition Hall bribery case ended

The High Court ruled on May 25 this year that Wang Longchang's case should be retried. The High Court today acquitted Wang Longchang. (File photo)

Wang Longchang, a 71-year-old former professor at the Institute of Civil Engineering and Disaster Prevention at the Taipei University of Technology, was accused of accepting bribes when he served as a tender review committee member of the Nangang Exhibition Center in 2008. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and was released on parole in 2017. The case went through many requests for retrial and was rejected by the Supreme Court. Finally, the High Court issued the 115th Announcement No. 2 ruling on May 25 this year, officially opening the retrial of Wang Longchang's case. The High Court announced today that Wang Longchang was acquitted.

The special investigation team investigated the Nangang Exhibition Center case in 2008. Huang Wei'an, the special assistant to the chairman of Rio Tinto Construction, the winning bidder, turned into a tainted witness and accused seven academics who served as review members of accepting bribes. Among them, Wang Longchang was accused of accepting bribes of 700,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan from Huang Wei'an in coffee shops and restaurants near the University of Science and Technology of Beijing. This part was transferred to the Beijing Procuratorate for investigation and prosecution. Wang Longchang and other six people were found guilty and sentenced to death. Wang Longchang was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison.

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Wang Longchang petitioned for a retrial, arguing that he did not know Huang Weian, that Huang gave inconsistent statements during the two interrogations in 2003 and 2008, and that apart from Huang's confession, there was no other evidence to prove that he had accepted bribes, and requested that the trial be restarted. The High Court rejected the claim in March 2019, holding that it was more than four years between Huang's two confessions and that it was normal for him to forget the details. In addition to Huang's testimony, the verdict was also supported by evidence such as payment application forms and restaurant meals. The reasons given by Wang were not enough to shake the original verdict.

The Private Judicial Reform Foundation believed that the original verdict was not supported by evidence such as communication records, bribery cash flow or withholding of bribes, except for the testimony of Huang Wei'an, the special assistant to the chairman of Rio Tinto. It worked on Wang Longchang's behalf many times and petitioned the Supreme People's Procuratorate to review the case for confirmation of guilt. The Supreme People's Procuratorate finally decided to apply for a retrial. On May 25 this year, the High Court ruled that Wang Longchang's case should be retried.

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