Prosecutors seek longer detention for Lo Fu-chu

Prosecutors yesterday said that they would seek an extended detention order for former independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (羅福助), on the grounds that Lo was refusing to cooperate with their investigation.

The request was made to the Taipei District Court by prosecutors from the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office and the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office.

According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, prosecutors can detain a person for a maximum of 24 hours without a court order. If prosecutors need to detain the person for more than 24 hours, they will need to ask for the approval from district court judges.

The deadline for prosecutors to file the court order wwas 3:15pm yesterday -- exactly 24 hours after his arrest -- or they would have been forced to release Lo.

As of press time, Taipei District Court judges were still reviewing the request to detain Lo furtherSuch applications are normally decided within a day.

Lo was arrested at the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei Friday afternoon by police officers from the Criminal Investigation Department of the city's police headquarters as he was about to leave after a meeting with friends.

Chief Prosecutor Shen Ming-lun (沈明倫), along with prosecutors Chen Jui-jen (陳瑞仁) and Hou Kuan-jen (侯寬仁), from the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office were joined by Chief Prosecutor Hsin Tai-chao (邢泰釗) and prosecutors Huang Mou-shang (黃謀信) and Dai Wen-liang (戴文亮) of the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office at Lo's interview session, which began Friday night.

However, the prosecutors said Lo had so far refused to answer questions.

"Lo has not answered a single question since he came here," Shen said. "Prosecutors have asked for approval from the judges for further detention and questioning. That's all I can tell you at this moment."

Chuang Hsiu-ming (莊秀銘), Lo's lawyer, said that the arrest ordered by the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office was "controversial" and that Lo has the right to remain silent.

Referring to the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office, Chuang said, "Their job is to investigate cases which concern national security."

"Lo's case should be handled by the local prosecutors' office. Obviously, this is extreme action for a civilian [suspect]."

Lo has served the Legislative Yuan as a lawmaker for two terms totalling six years. He officially became a civilian on Jan. 31. Other than being a lawmaker, he also owns a securities house and admits to being the "spiritual leader" and one of three founders of the "Tiendaomeng" (天道盟), a syndicate of Taiwanese gangs.

However, Lo denies that his organization is involved in criminal activities.