Waving off allegations that he is connected to the Tiendaomeng (天道盟) organized crime group, independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (羅福助) yesterday spoke with the head of the country's judiciary system about justice.
Lo, who was elected as a convener of the legislature's judicial committee on Sept. 21, visited Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生), president of the Judicial Yuan, along with four other committee lawmakers yesterday.
The committee is scheduled to visit Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) today.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
In receiving the 12-member committee -- of which six are subject to criminal trials or investigations -- Weng said little, but hoped the lawmakers would support the passage of some bills the Judicial Yuan has proposed.
Seizing the opportunity, Lo complained about the media's frequent portrayal of him as a mafia leader, which he claims is unfair.
Lo, along with lawmakers Chou Wu-liu (
Lo also criticized his antagonist, lawmaker Tsai Ming-hsiang (蔡明憲), for the DPP legislator's vociferous protests against his being elected as convener of the judicial committee.
"This is the third time I have been elected as convener of the judicial committee. I can say that I've tried my best and did my job well. But there's always someone who cares little about their own job and just wants to climb by stepping on others," he said.
Tsai challenged and protested the vote as soon as Lo was announced as convener on Sept. 21.
"I cannot bear to see the President of the Judicial Yuan Weng Yueh-sheng and Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan taking a bow before [Lo] when they attend the committee," Tsai was quoted as saying at the time.
KMT lawmaker Liao Hwu-peng (廖福本), who is being investigated under suspicion of selling fake stocks of Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), was also present yesterday.
Referring to the recent corruption scandal of Tainan District Court Judge Lee Tung-ying (李東穎), Liao urged the Judicial Yuan to carry out effective evaluations to ensure the integrity of judges.
The lawmakers also complained about the Judicial Yuan's release of legislators' names who are facing criminal charges or are being tried.
They said the released information had damaged the reputation of lawmakers and could have caused prejudice before the end of legal proceedings.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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