Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung Legislator Hsu Chih-ming (
Hsu was convicted by the Supreme Court Thursday for accepting illegal kickbacks of NT$3.95 million (US$120,000) from swimming pool builders when he was the head of Kaohsiung County's Daliao (大寮) Township in 1994.
The Taiwan High Court's Kaohsiung Branch sentenced him to 12 years in jail on May 2, 2003. Hsu appealed to the Supreme Court, but his appeal was eventually declined on Thursday.
PHOTO: FANG CHIH-HSIAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court decided to maintain his 12-year sentence, saying that he also has to return the NT$3.95 million in kickbacks.
At a press conference which he held at his house in Daliao yesterday morning, Hsu said he would file a request for extraordinary appeal.
"I hereby request judges to name witnesses and sufficient evidence, such as the person who paid me the kickbacks or any witness of the entire process. If not, how can they [judges] simply send me to jail like this?" Hsu asked.
When Hsu's appeal was declined, Kaohsiung Chief Prosecutor Hsiao Po-wen (
In addition to informing Hsu of when he had to report to jail, Hsiao and several police officers decided to remain and escort Hsu to Kaohsiung Prison after his press conference yesterday morning.
Since Hsu's conviction was upheld, his position at the legislature was also immediately revoked.
The DPP yesterday also decided to suspend his membership. Also, by law, Hsu will not be able to accept any government positions or run in any elections in the future, because he has been convicted in a bribery case.
"This verdict is not persuasive," Hsu said. "I dare to say that I have never accepted any bribes during my 20 years of service. This is not difficult to be investigated."
"I respect justice. But I will not accept it if I've been framed," he added.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS