Kaohsiung Prosecutor Chen Chien-ho (陳建和) issued an arrest warrant for former Kaohsiung City Council speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄) yesterday, warning that Chu will be listed as a wanted person if he does not show up before 3pm Monday.
"We gave him another chance but he still did not come to us. So we had to issue a [three-day] warrant," said Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office Spokesman Chou Chang-chin (
Chu was convicted last month of vote-buying and given a 22-month prison sentence. He was supposed to report to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office by 3pm on Thursday to begin serving his sentence.
The prosecutors' office gave Chu a "12-hour mercy period" after his wife Wu Te-mei (
Wu reportedly assured Chen that her husband was still in the country and would give himself up soon.
Chou refused to provide further details of the phone call between Wu and Chen or respond to questions about why Chen would have agreed to delaying a warrant based upon one phone conversation.
"I think Chu was merely trying to buy himself some time [referring to Chu's no-show and Wu's phone call]," said Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南). "But he eventually has to face his problems."
As of press time yesterday, Chu's whereabouts remained unknown.
There has been intense media speculation in the past week that Chu had fled to Shanghai, but law enforcement officials have remained mum on the rumors.
During a press conference yesterday, National Police Administration Director-General Chang Si-liang (
"We have no idea of his whereabouts but we will try our best to track him down," he said.
However, when asked what the authorities could do if Chu turns up in Shanghai, neither Chang nor Chen Ding-nan would comment.
Meanwhile, the police announced yesterday that Wu has also disappeared.
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