Kidnap suspects detained

Taipei District Court judges yesterday morning approved a request by prosecutors to detain Chan Hui-hua (詹惠華), head of a call-girl ring and the prime suspect behind KMT lawmaker Huang Hsien-chou's (黃顯洲) alleged kidnapping.

Another suspect, Yu Hung-tsan (游洪贊), an Indonesia-based overseas Taiwanese businessman and a good friend of Chan's father, has also been detained.

"He [Yu] said that Chan Hui-hua called him on Dec. 26 to ask him to be an onlooker during Huang's sex party. Chan told him that Huang loves to be watched having sex," said Kuo Yung-fa (郭永發), a prosecutor at the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office. "He agreed and joined the sex party on Dec. 27 as a voyeur, accompanied by Chan Fu-shun (詹富順), Chan Hui-hua's younger brother."

Huang claimed on Thursday that he was held against his will between Dec. 27 and Dec. 31 in a hotel room at the Grand Hyatt Taipei. He also said he was drugged, tied up, held at gunpoint and robbed of NT$800,000 in cash.

A police investigation found that the room was booked under the name of Chan Hui-hua.

Huang earlier said that he arrived at the Grand Hyatt Taipei and met Chan Hui-hua in the hotel room at her request. Asked why he would meet her in a hotel room, Huang replied, "I was just trying to serve my voters."

"Chan Hui-hua turned herself in on Friday afternoon," Kuo said. "Yu did the same thing on the evening of the same day. Prosecutors then interviewed them immediately.

"In the meantime, a group of prosecutors and police officers searched Chan Hui-hua's apartment and her mother's home after obtaining search warrants to do so. Samples of urine have been obtained from Chan Hui-hua, Yu and Huang for drug tests, but no direct evidence has been discovered yet. However, we have decided to detain Chan and Yu and are ready to charge them with robbery."

Following up tipoffs, police tracked down 27-year-old Chan Fu-shun on Thursday. After interviewing him, investigators released him on bail of NT$100,000 Friday morning.

Although Chan Fu-shun has been released on bail, both members of the Chan family and Yu are listed as defendants in the case, Kuo said.

Investigators have been working to contact two prostitutes named Hsiao-min (小敏) and Hsuan-hsuan (萱萱), who have been placed at the scene during the four days in question.

They have been tracked down and prosecutors are ready to summon them in the near future, Kuo said.

After his release, Chan Fu-shun told the media that Huang had strung together a pack of lies to hide the truth behind the events that took place in the hotel room on the last four days of last year.

Chan said that Huang had actually tied himself up with scotch tape in bed, smoked marijuana and engaged in sadomasochistic games with his sister and the prostitutes Hsiao-min and Hsuan-hsuan.

Huang is a graduate of the Agricultural Engineering Department at National Taiwan University. He also received a master's degree in Engineering Management from Illinois University.

He was elected a National Assembly deputy in 1993. He was later elected as a legislator in 1998 but lost his seat in the Dec. 1 legislative elections.

In related news, the United Daily News (聯合報) offered an apology yesterday for reporting that Huang was just one lawmaker among many who has abnormal sexual preferences and that some DPP legislators -- especially three New Tide faction members -- are known for their promiscuity.