SWISS JUSTICE MINISTRY RESERVED ON SIGNING AGREEMENT WITH TAIWAN
2003-12-12 14:29:54
Geneva, Dec. 12 (CNA) A Swiss Ministry of Justice spokesman maintained a reserved attitude when asked about Taiwan's hopes of signing a judicial assistance agreement with his country, saying Switzerland could not possibly sign such agreements with every single country.
The spokesman, however, stressed that even if there is no judicial assistance agreement between the two countries, Switzerland can still provide sufficient judicial assistance to Taiwan.
His remarks came after the Swiss Ministry of Justice announced earlier this week that a federal court had ruled that Taiwan, France and the Principality of Liechtenstein should be given access to the Swiss legal files, particularly the Andrew Wang family's bank accounts in Switzerland, to facilitate investigations into an alleged kickback scandal in connection with Taiwan's procurement of six Lafayette frigates from France in 1991,
Taiwan's Ministry of Justice (MOJ) welcomed the decision by the Swiss authorities, saying it would be helpful in tracking the flow of the alleged slush funds of Wang, an arms dealer, and in shedding more light on the case.
The MOJ further said that in its efforts at signing judicial assistance agreements with other countries, the ministry has listed Switzerland as a priority.
However, the Swiss Ministry of Justice spokesman, when asked about Taiwan's hopes of signing a judicial assistance agreement with Switzerland, did not give a direct answer. He said that in the absence of such an agreement, Switzerland can still extend judicial assistance to Taiwan, such as that given earlier this week, based on an international judicial assistance law.
He also said that Switzerland is currently actively negotiating the signing of judicial assistance agreements with Latin American countries, saying that these countries are the nation's top priority on this issue.
(By Neil Lu and Lilian Wu)
ENDITEM/Li
