Lawmakers victimized by acts of violence of independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (
People First Party Legislator Diane Lee (
"The legislature shouldn't be out of the reach of law and order. Violence is not allowed in our society and the legislature should not tolerate behavior such as physical attacks on others," Lee said.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Lee said it was regretful that the televised violent incident made Taiwan's democratic development the laughing stock of the international community.
Lee said she believed the prosecution decided to charge Lo with being a hoodlum because of the repeated acts of violence he has committed.
"The fact that Lo never attended the investigative hearing held by prosecutors shows that he feels no remorse at all for the incident," Lee said.
Lo is one of several legislators who has resorted to fisticuffs in disputes with colleagues.
On March 2, Lo was sentenced to 59 days in detention by the Taipei District Court for assaulting DPP legislator Yu Jan-daw (
Yu is dissatisfied with what he called a light sentence and has appealed to the Taiwan High Court.
Yu said both Lee's case and his own are evidence of Lo's habitual violence.
"Authorities concerned should continue their investigation as long as there is evidence," Yu said.
Chien Hsi-chieh, another DPP legislator who was slapped by Lo after a quarrel erupted during a committee meeting in the legislature on Jan. 3, 2000, said all acts of violence should be punished and that no lawmaker should be threatened with violence while performing their duties.
"These threats of violence make lawmakers fear for their safety even in doing their job," Chien said.
Independent lawmaker Liao Hsueh-kuang (廖學廣), who blames Lo for his abduction in 1996 -- wherin he was blindfolded, gagged and put in a cage -- said Lo should be put in jail for an extended period of time.
No criminal charge was brought against Lo in Liao's case due to a lack of evidence.
"He [Lo] will be arrested as long as the victims are willing to testify against him. He has been involved in too many cases of violence," Liao said.
Before deciding to refer Lo to police authorities on charges of being a hoodlum, investigators obtained the testimony of a number of Lo's victims, prosecutors said.
In addition to Lee, Yu and Chien, six other lawmakers have been physically attacked by Lo, including DPP legislators Chang Chin-fang (
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS