Kaohsiung judges yesterday added another 42 months to fugitive and former Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Chu An-hsiung's (
Kaohsiung judges Lin Shui-cheng (林水城), Chen Ming-chu (陳銘珠) and Fang Bai-cheng (方百正) yesterday announced a verdict for nine defendants, including Chu, his wife Wu Te-mei (吳德美), his sister-in-law Wu Pin-fang (吳品芳), former Kaohsiung City Government Civil Affairs Bureau Director Wang Wen-cheng (王文正), his campaign office director Hsien Chi-yu (賢繼宇), Kaohsiung's Happy Radio FM97.5 General-Manager Huang Hsin-chung (黃信中), and councilors Tsai Ching-yuan (蔡慶源), Tong Yen-chen (童燕珍) and Tsao Ming-hui (曹明輝). Chu was convicted of buying votes during last year's Kaohsiung City Council speakership election by paying each councilor NT$5 million to vote for him.
In addition to Chu being sentenced to 42 months in jail, Tsai was sentenced to 11 months in jail; Wu Te-mei, Wu Pin-fang and Wang were sentenced to six months in jail; and Hsien, Huang, Tong and Tsao were found not guilty.
Chu's sentence will be added to the 22-month sentence handed down in a separate bribery case involving the city council election. He was supposed to begin his jail term on Oct. 16 but managed to escape.
However, Chu has the right to appeal yesterday's sentence within 10 days after he receives the verdict.
None of the defendants attended yesterday's court proceedings. However, Chu's daughter, Chu Ting-shan (
Kaohsiung prosecutors indicted 40 people in the matter, including 34 councilors, one lawmaker and five of Chu's friends or colleagues who helped him distribute bribe money. Since the Kaohsiung District Court began the legal process in April, Lin, Chen and Fang have convicted 27 of the defendants.
In the meantime, six defendants were found not guilty while seven defendants' verdicts are pending.
"We will wrap up the rest of the defendants' verdicts before the end of the year," Lin said.
In the meantime, Chu's whereabouts remain unknown although rumor have it that he could be in China. Prosecutors and the police deny the allegation.
"We are still trying to track him down," said Chou Chang-chin (周章欽), Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office spokesman.
"Our investigations show there is no possibility of him [Chu] being in China," he said.
National Police Administration Director-General Chang Si-liang (
"I can tell you that the situation is under control but I cannot tell you whether Chu is in Taiwan or in a foreign country," he said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS