Ex-officials may face criminal liability over lost files

“The case is currently being investigated by the Control Yuan, and if the probe shows that those involved should be responsible criminally besides holding for administrative accountability, we will definitely pursue legal avenues against them,” said Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), spokesman for the Presidential Office in a press conference yesterday.

Lo added that the disappearance of 36,000 official documents during the DPP's eight-year administration is a serious matter of great concern.

He urged those involved in the alleged mishandling of official files to disclose the whereabouts of the missing files to the government watchdog and the public immediately.

Missing Files Probe

Lo's comment came one day after the Presidential Office pointed out that from 2000 to 2008, only 6.76 percent of total received official documents had been properly filed.

The recently-concluded two-year investigation found that during the eight years of Chen Shui-bian's presidency, 17 senior officials' offices had received a total of 38,924 documents, according to a statement released by the office on Tuesday night.

Officials who worked at the offices under Chen and are now under investigation reportedly include former Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former presidential secretaries general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男), Yu Shyi-kun, (游錫堃), Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), Chiu Yi-jen (邱義仁), Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Mark Chen (陳唐山), Ma Yung-chen (馬永成) and Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), among others.

These officials could have violated several laws, including the National Archives Act (國家檔案法), the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) and the Decree Governing the Transfer of Documents of Civil Servants (公務人員交代條例), according to the Presidential Office.

DPP's Response

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