Prosecutors said yesterday that their anti-vote-buying efforts will be carried through, with particular attention focused on candidates who intend to pay off their vote captains and supporters after Saturday's election.
"Although the anti-vote-buying taskforce will be disbanded, the efforts to fight against vote-buying are not over yet," said Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), a deputy chief prosecutor.
Prosecutors said that in the past candidates would ensure the effectiveness of their vote-buying by giving vote captains who are responsible for securing votes a percentage of a promised fee prior to the election.
"Candidates would then give vote captains the rest of the reward after they won the election," said David Horng (洪光火宣), head prosecutor of the Ministry of Justice.
To combat vote-buying, the Ministry of Justice used to provide rewards to citizens who reported vote-buying infractions within 10 days of an election.
A revised regulation stipulates that a reward could be granted to informers within the tenure of the office for which a candidate runs -- if the vote-buyer is convicted.
"This year we were able to have four legislative candidates indicted before the election due to probes that began early on. This would have never happened in the past," said Horng.
He said that preparations for cracking down on vote-buying began last September with inter-agency efforts.
"For example, the Ministry of Finance kept close watch on financial institutions that were suspected of appropriating funds for vote-buying."
The four indicted candidates are the DPP's Hsu Chih-ming (
Among them, only Hsu won a post in Saturday's polls.
Horng revealed that it is very likely that more candidates, rather than just their vote captains, would be indicted.
Vote captains frequently insist on concealing the names of the candidates they are working for. In order to counter this, prosecutors are now "educating" vote captains during investigations by telling them that they could be spared conviction if they reveal the identity of the candidate employing them.
Official determination to wipe out vote-buying in the first legislative poll after the DPP won the presidency last year is greater than ever.
The most recent figures on suspected and indicted cases involving bribery are to be released today, the ministry said.
Figures released last Friday showed that 2,672 possible bribery cases involving 2,920 suspected cases of vote-buying were under investigation, among which 31 cases and 139 suspects involved were indicted.
As for county commissioner and mayoral elections, eight of the 813 suspected vote-buying cases were under investigation. Fourteen of the 592 suspects were indicted.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
RSS