The dispute over People First Party Chairman James Soong's (宋楚瑜) Chung Hsing Bills Finance case (興票案) continued yesterday as six lawyers petitioned the nation's highest watchdog, the Control Yuan, and asked that the prosecutor who decided not to indict Soong be impeached.
"The officiating prosecutor, Hung Tai-wen (洪泰文), has neglected his duty and violated the law in making the decision," the lawyers said in their petition.
Johnson Chuang (莊勝榮), the lawyer heading yesterday's move, said that the prosecution had drawn inferences in the case that were "contradictory to common sense."
For example, Chuang said, in the decision not to indict Soong, Hung said that had Soong intended to embezzle KMT money he would not have deposited the money into accounts in the Chung Hsing Bills Finance Co, because it would have been too risky as the Chung Hsing company was owned by the KMT.
Chuang argued, however, that Soong was then KMT secretary general and could therefore exert a powerful influence over the company, and that it was therefore understandable that he would put money he had misappropriated into these accounts.
The prosecution accepted Soong's explanation that, under orders from then KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (
The lawyers argued in their petition that the prosecutor had made a serious procedural flaw by never summoning Lee or the lawyers to tell their side of the story throughout the year-long investigation.
The prosecution has repeatedly said the prosecutor had the discretion not to summon the complainant if he thought the information and evidence he had were sufficient for a decision.
Tomorrow is the deadline for the complainant, the KMT, to apply for reconsideration of the case. The KMT has not yet announced if it will pursue reconsideration.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique