Ma told the press outside the courthouse that he is innocent and expects the high court to handle his case based on the principles of justice and fairness.

Ma was indicted by prosecutors in February on charges of embezzling NT$11 million from his mayoral expense account while serving as mayor of Taipei City between 1998 and 2006.

But the district court acquitted him on Aug. 14, ruling that the former mayor was just following a common practice that allowed flexibility in government administrators’ handling of their expense accounts.

The court said that Ma had had no intention of embezzling any public funds.

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office decided Aug. 17 to appeal the ruling.

Commenting on the several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweights, including Vice President Annette Lu and former DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, also indicted Sept. 21 on similar charges, Ma said his heart goes out to them.

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