Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Chu An-hsiung (
"I admit that I was buying votes. I hope that I am the last vote-buying councilor," Chu said yesterday during the last hearing for the bribery case.
According to Kaohsiung District Court Presiding Judge Lin Shui-cheng (
The court upheld the high court's verdict and sentenced him to 22 months in jail, while his civil rights were suspended for three years concerning another bribery case, in which he bought votes for NT$500 each during the campaign for the Dec. 1 city council election.
Chu was the only councilor summoned to yesterday's hearing.
Lin said Chu's verdict will be handed down on Nov. 27.
Chu was first arrested on Dec. 28 and had been detained for 166 days. He showed up at the hearing for the first time on June 12 and was released on NT$5 million bail.
Lin summoned Chu for the second time on July 10 but he asked that his absence be excused, as he had to accompany Premier Yu Shyi-kun on a visit to the city council. On July 18, Chu asked for another excused absence on the third summons, because he had to host a city council meeting.
On Aug. 14, Chu took advantage of the same excuse to dodge the fourth summons and Lin decided to hold an extra hearing on Aug. 31, which was a Sunday, to fit Chu's busy schedule. However, Chu again did not show up. On Sept. 12, Lin filed an official request to the Kaohsiung City Council to arrest Chu and two other indicted councilors since they have constantly dodged court hearings.
Chu's supporters complained that politics was involved in the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday because the case was concluded within only nine months. The Judicial Yuan said yesterday that the matter had nothing to do with politics.
"As long as there is sufficient evidence, we can wrap up any case very fast. It is no big deal at all," said Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Yang Jen-shou (
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