Wu Chun-li (吳春麗), a prosecutor at Taipei District Prosecutors' Office (台北地檢署), yesterday decided not to prosecute Wu Yung-chi (吳永吉) and Tu Wen-hsiang (杜文祥) -- both 31-year-old members of the popular five-man rock band The Chairman (董事長樂團) -- and their friend Tsou Yung-tai (鄒永泰) for gang raping a young woman, local media reported.
The three were previously accused of sexually harassing and gang raping a young woman on the morning of Jan. 30.
According to police, the victim, a hostess at a bar in Taipei, was invited to a hotel room by the three men on Jan. 30. While drinking in the room, the three allegedly stripped her, forced her to perform oral sex on them and then gang raped her.
On Feb. 6, results of a DNA test confirmed that semen found on a hotel bedsheet and on the victim's body was from Wu.
Wu, however, insisted that they were innocent. "I was just masturbating in front of her," Wu said.
According to the prosecutor yesterday, the victim changed her testimony on Jan. 31 and confirmed the men's story. She admitted that she was Tsou's girlfriend and had lied to police to get revenge on Tsou after fighting with him that night.
Although the woman later claimed that she changed her story because of pressure from a lawmaker, the prosecutor thought her testimony was unreliable and decided not to prosecute the three men.
"Wu's semen was only found on her belly, not inside her vagina," the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor, however, did not comment on rumors that independent legislator Lin Ruey-tou (林瑞圖) had helped the band members work out a private settlement by paying the woman NT$500,000 to change her testimony.
* On Jan. 30, alleged victim accuses band members with gang raping her, Wu and Tu are arrested.
* On Jan. 31, victim changes her story, saying she only wanted to get back at Wu after having a fight with him.
* On April 17, police drop the charges, citing a lack of reliable evidence.
Source: CNA
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