Two former top Taiwanese naval officers detained over a military corruption scandal on Sunday protested their innocence as investigators prepared to take the case to court.
"If I had taken money, it would not be sufficient punishment for me to use a knife or two to kill myself," said Liu Ho-chien, former navy commander in chief.
"Even having my head chopped off would not be enough. I would have my head chopped off and my body cut into pieces."
Liu said he had been questioned by investigators over his role in a 2.8 billion US dollar deal in 1991 for the purchase of six French-built Lafayette class frigates.
Meanwhile retired vice admiral Lei Hsueh-ming, former head of the fleet control office, was released after being detained and interrogated for 84 days.
"I would commit suicide if I had taken money in the arms sale," he declared.
Referring to the huge bribes said to have secured the deal, he added: "I still cannot figure out why the French side had to use large kickbacks to bribe officials here as we were begging somebody to sell us weapons."
China routinely rails against any attempt to sell arms to Taiwan, over which it claims sovereignty and which it periodically threatens to invade.
The corruption scandal first surfaced with the murder of naval captain Yin Ching Ching-feng, head of the navy's arms acquisition office, whose body was found floating in the sea off the east of Taiwan in 1993.
Observers said they believe Yin had been ready to blow the whistle on the rampant bribery and corruption in the military.
So far 28 people, including 13 military officers and 15 arms brokers, have been jailed in Taiwan on charges of bribery, as well as leaking military secrets.
Three naval officers and a retired general have also been detained on suspicion of inflating the deal's price tag by 20 billion Taiwan dollars (643.7 million US), according to reports.
In addition, in France the scandal forced former foreign minister Roland Dumas to step down as president of the constitutional council, France's top judicial authority.
And in a recent interview with French newspaper Liberation, Taiwanese Justice Minister Chen Ting-nan called on French defense firm Thomson to reimburse the massive commission paid on the contract.
An investigation ordered by President Chen Shui-bian in August after previous inquiries ended in dead-ends is due to conclude its work by the end of the month.
On Sunday legislator Lee Ching-hua of the opposition People First Party said captain Yin had cautioned against the purchase of Lafayettee class frigates in a meeting with former commander-in-chief Liu following a fact finding trip Yin made to France in September 1993.
Lee said his death had to be related to the scandal and that captain Kuo Li-hung, who accompanied Yin to France, must know who killed him.
Kuo received a life jail term for his part in the affair. "Something must have been done to make him see that if he continued to unveil the truth, then he would never be released from jail," Liu said.
No one has been charged over Yin's murder, but the navy's former commander-in-chief Chuang Ming-yao resigned to take responsibility for his death -- TAIPEI (AFP)
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