Taipei prosecutors said yesterday they might charge Taipei police officers with concealment of offences, destruction of evidence and leaking confidential information while handling a case of alleged assault involving singer-actress Makiyo and a Japanese friend.
Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office spokesman Huang Mo-hsin (黃謀信) said yesterday that prosecutors would soon question Xinyi precinct police officers Wu Teng-chieh (吳登傑) and Yeh Hung-sheng (葉鴻昇), who were in charge of Makiyo’s case, but apparently failed to include an important video clip in the evidence package given to prosecutors on Feb. 3.
Their supervisors would also be questioned, Huang added.
The video clip, taken by a taxi driver using a dashboard camera in his car, seems to show Makiyo shouting at a taxi driver and kicking him before being stopped by her Japanese friend, Takateru Tomoyori.
Xinyi precinct did not present the video clip to the prosecutors until the prosecutors saw the footage on TV on Wednesday and demanded the tape from the department, prosecutors said.
According to Hung, head of Xinyi precinct’s Sanchangli police station, Yang Kuo-chang (楊國昌) had admitted to the Taipei Police Station that he gave the video clip to an ETTV reporter and that footage taken from it was broadcast on TV.
Yang would face an investigation to determine if he leaked confidential information, Huang said.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday announced it had indicted Makiyo and Tomoyori on charges of assault and asked for four and six years imprisonment respectively, over the alleged beating of the taxi driver on Feb. 2.
The incident reportedly occurred after the taxi driver, surnamed Lin (林), asked Tomoyori and the other passengers to fasten their seatbelts, which they allegedly refused to do. They then allegedly assaulted the taxi driver.
Lin, who sustained serious head injuries, two fractured ribs and a concussion, was still in hospital yesterday.
Makiyo, a Taiwan-based entertainer born to a Japanese father and Taiwanese mother, and Tomoyori have been prohibited from leaving the country.
Separately yesterday, Minister of the Interior Lee Hong-yun (李鴻源) said the police had been careless in their handling of the high-profile assault case.
“Honestly speaking, the police made some clear errors in processing the case,” Lee said, adding that the police made a “serious mistake” by waiting six days before submitting a video clip of the incident.
Describing the incident as “regretful,” Lee said there were some lessons to be learned, including the wrongfulness of violence and heavy drinking.
To avoid such mistakes from happening again, he urged more on-the-job training for police officers.
He also called for the enforcement of standard operating procedures in the police force.
Additional reporting by CNA
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS