Two new arrests made in military prison breakout

The mother of military prison escapee Lai Han-wei (賴漢威) and her boyfriend were arrested yesterday, accused of collusion in the escape and concealment of her son.

During questioning, Chu Yu-chan (朱玉盞) told military police she did not where her son was hiding.

Chu's boyfriend, Tsai Chun-fa (蔡宗發) was arrested for aiding Lai Han-wei's escape, but was released on NT$100,000 bail last night.

Chu was held and questioned all yesterday afternoon and Taipei District Court approved a prosecutor's petition to detain Chu for further inquiries.

"She's under suspicion of committing the offence of concealing bandits [under the Bandit Law], which carries imprisonment of not less than seven years," said the prosecutor.

Lai Han-wei and Hsu Cheng-hsiang (徐振翔) fled the Hsintien (新店) detention center on June 16.

Hsu was shot and caught by police on June 29 in Hsinchuang City, Taipei County, and is still being treated in hospital.

Lai, who broke his foot after jumping off the prison wall, used a false name and the help of his friends to get hospital treatment.

A few days after the escape Lai's parents also disappeared.

The prosecutor claimed that the two fugitives were harbored by Lai's parents and relatives.

The prosecutor questioned Lai's aunt Chu Yu-suey (朱玉穗) over the weekend, who confessed that she had taken care of the injured Lai.

Police discovered the apartment, which was used as a hideout by the two escapees, was rented out by Lai's parents.

In a raid on the apartment the police found gypsum, bandages and medicines used to treat Lai's compound fracture.

The prosecutor said yesterday that, according to detectives, the last time Lai saw her son was on June 27 at the hospital in Hsinchuang.

The police are still searching for Lai and his father and believe Lai is still in Taipei.

The prosecutor called on Lai to give himself up and for his relatives to stop covering up for him.