The Special Investigation Panel (SIP) prosecution team vowed Sunday to appeal the verdict handed down by the Taipei District Court to acquit former President Chen Shui-bian of bribe-taking charges in connection with two major bank mergers during his second term in office. SIP head Chen Hung-ta said the not-guilty verdict was unacceptable to the prosecution, particularly given the judges' viewpoint on the definition of the president's authority and different understandings of other related facts. The SIP indicted the former president and his wife last December for money- laundering and taking NT$610 million (US$20.2 million) from two financial holding companies and for helping them in bids to acquire smaller banks as part of the government's push for consolidation of the banking sector. Eleven months later, a three-judge panel of the Taipei District Court handed down the initial verdict, finding both Chen Shui-bian his wife Wu Shu-jen, their two children and 17 co-defendants not guilty in the case. In a summary of its ruling, the court said it found in favor of the defendants because there was no evidence proving that the money given by the financial holding companies to the first couple was reciprocated with help in manipulating the mergers. The ruling reasoned that the president's rights and duties do not fall within the Code of Criminal Procedure but involve constitutional authority. Chen and his wife were found not guilty, since mergers of financial holding companies do not fall within the president's constitutional authority, according to the ruling report. Noting that the SIP has not yet received the report, Chen Hung-ta said the prosecution does not exclude the possibility of appealing the not-guilty verdict without the ruling report, a move that is in line with stipulations in the Code of Criminal Procedure. President Ma Ying-jeou has not made any comment on the acquittal verdict, but did say Sunday that although the judiciary must operate neutrally, it should not alienate its operations from public sentiment. Chen Hung-ta said he is not in a position to comment on the president's remarks, but added that it is commonly agreed within the legal sector that cases should not be judged rashly. Scandal-inflicted former President Chen, who has been held since Dec. 30, 2008, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for embezzling state funds, laundering money, accepting bribes and committing forgery. 