The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office said yesterday that a total of 10 city councilors who were summoned on suspicion of accepting bribes in the council speakership election have not shown up, while another 21 councilors have either turned themselves in or responded to the summons as of press time yesterday.
"We are still waiting for the 10 councilors to respond to the summons. If they do not show up before the deadline, we will have to arrest them," Chou Chang-chin (
PHOTO: HOU CHENG-HSU, TAIPEI TIMES
Chou did not say when the deadline will be.
The prosecutors' office also confirmed that prosecutors have not promised any councilors that it will suspend charges, even though prosecutors made an announcement on Jan. 2 that councilors who turn themselves in and return bribe money within 48 hours of the announcement would be granted amnesty.
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), prosecutors have the right to temporarily suspend charges against a suspect if he cooperates throughout the investigation and provides sufficient evidence to help close the case. The mercy period could be from one to three years. If the suspect does not break any law within the period, the charge will be automatically dropped.
According to Chou, among the 21 councilors, eight of them belong to the DPP, five are from the KMT, five are PFP members and the rest of them are independent councilors.
"To be precise, 11 of the 21 councilors have admitted to receiving bribes from the newly-elected Council Speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄) and said that they would return the money. Among the 11 councilors, six of them have already returned the bribes, which total NT$30 million," Chou said.
Kaohsiung City Councilor Cheng Hsin-chu (
Cheng reported to his summons on Saturday along with DPP colleagues Chiang Chen-lu (
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