Notorious kidnappers Hsueh Chiu (薛球) and Chen Yi-hua (陳益華) were indicted on charges of extortion yesterday and a prosecutor suggested a two-year-and-six-month sentence for each man.
In addition to Hsueh and Chen, Chiayi prosecutor Wang Hui-hsin (王輝興) also indicted another four suspects who worked with Hsueh and Chen during some of their crimes.
The four accomplices are Chen Juei-fang (陳瑞芳), Kuo Hsi-jung (郭錫榮), Tsai Kuei-ker (蔡貴客) and Liao Chien-hsin (廖建信). Wang suggested the same sentence for Chen, Kuo and Tsai but did not suggest a sentence for Liao.
Hsueh and Chen Yi-hua are currently being detained. Chen Juei-fang and Kuo were both released on NT$500,000 bail yesterday and Tsai was released on NT$200,000 bail on Nov. 25. Liao was interrogated on Oct. 20 and later released.
"In the crime ring, Liao's role is the least important and he has been quite cooperative since our investigation began. As a result, we did not detain him or suggest any sentence for him," Wang said in an indictment.
According to the prosecutor, Hsueh and Chen Yi-hua met the rest of the four while fleeing to China in 2000.
Hsueh and Chen Yi-hua's indictment, follows a string of shootings and kidnappings, giving them a reputation as notorious bandits. But the pair has never been involved in a murder, according to police.
Most recently they have been linked to the kidnapping of the three sons and a brother-in-law of a wealthy Chiayi businessman in March last year, as well as the kidnapping of Taichung City Council Speaker Chang Hung-nien (張宏年), who was then-vice speaker, in 2002.
Hsueh and Chen Yi-hua released the hostages in the Chiayi case after a ransom to the tune of NT$4.8 million was paid. Chang was released when his family handed over an undisclosed sum, rumored to be in the neighborhood of NT$300 million.
Later, a dispute erupted between prosecutors and judges after Hsueh and Chen Yi-hua were arrested by Miaoli police on March 21, 2000, but were released the same day by the Miaoli District Court on bail of NT$200,000 and NT$300,000, respectively.
Hsueh and Chen Yi-hua have been on the run ever since until they were nabbed by Chinese police and escorted back to Taiwan in August.
In the six-man crime ring, Kuo proposed the idea of blackmailing Yang Teng-kuei (
Their plan was to record a threatening statement made by Hsueh and Chen Yi-hua on two VCDs and then mail them separately to both Yangs. The VCD to Yang Kuang-you was never made public but the one sent to Yang Teng-kuei was shown by the police few days after it was received.
In the VCD, Chen Yi-hua told Yang Teng-kuei that they needed NT$50 million or he would have to "do something." Chen Yi-hua and Hsueh had allegedly signed a note, along with their fingerprints, and mailed it with the VCD.
In the footage, in addition to making the threatening "statement," Chen Yi-hua and Hsueh sat on a sofa and played with pistols and bullets.
On July 3, Chen Juei-fang and Tsai brought the two VCDs and the notes -- signed by Chen Yi-hua and Hsueh -- back to Taiwan and mailed them from Sanchung City, Taipei County, after which time the police were notified.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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