The People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus yesterday said it would file a malfeasance lawsuit against Chen Tsai-fu (
If Chen Tsai-fu were to be found guilty as charged, he could face the most severe punishment -- death -- according to the penal code. The law stipulates that civil servants or service men found abandoning their duties can be sentenced to death, life sentence or a sentence of up to 10 years.
When questioned about the appropriateness of suing Chen Tsai-fu for failing to thwart an assassination attempt that many pan-blue supporters claim was staged, PFP spokesman Hwang Yih-jiau (
He said that the party only wanted to determine the truth about the events surrounding the shooting.
PFP Legislator Hsieh Chang-chieh (
Instead of taking the president and vice president away from the crime scene immediately, Hsieh said that Chen Tsai-fu allowed the vehicle to proceed and then linger for a few minutes before rushing to a hospital.
"Protecting the safety of the head of state is equivalent to fighting a war," he said. "There's absolutely zero room for error in maintaining their security."
Hsieh also proposed that military prosecutors immediately arrest Chen Tsai-fu and suspend him from his duties while he awaits trial.
PFP Legislator Hsu Chang-ming (
In addition, the vehicle they were riding in was not bullet-proof and the driver of the vehicle was not from the National Security Bureau (NSB).
NSB Director-General Hsueh Shih-ming (
Hsueh made the remark Monday during a legislative committee meeting where he briefed lawmakers about security issues during the campaign for the presidential election.
Hsueh said that the president's body guards should be held especially accountable for the assassination attempt. They include Chen Tsai-fu (
While the bureau is not authorized to punish Chen Tsai-fu, who was appointed by the president, Hsueh said that he would recommend the National Police Administration punish Chang and Lu Hsiao-min, both of whom are law enforcement officers.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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