Taipei judges jailed former Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilor Hsu Fu-nan (許富男) for six years on Thursday for visiting Russia using NT$1.5 million (US$50,000) in public funds in July 2005.
“The court decided on a six-year sentence for Hsu, because in addition to continuing to deny the accusation, he never apologized or expressed regret for what he did,” the verdict said.
In addition to the sentence, the judges also deprived Hsu of his civil rights for three years.
Meanwhile, Taipei City Bureau of Health Department of Planning Director Yen Yu-bin (嚴玉賓) was sentenced to two years in prison, with a one-year loss of her civil rights, but the sentence was suspended for five years as judges believed that Yen was only following a directive given by Hsu.
Both Hsu and Yen are able to appeal their sentences within 10 days of receiving their verdicts.
The verdict said that Yen felt compelled to do as Hsu had asked because councilors could make life difficult for staff members who did not fulfill their wishes.
In her defense, Yen said she carried out Hsu’s request because she “wanted to maintain a harmonious atmosphere” at the council.
In addition to Hsu and Yen, another 17 people, including councilors, officials and civilians joined the trip in 2005.
In related news, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Taitung branch passed details of its case against Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen’s (鄺麗貞) frequent foreign visits to the party’s Evaluation and Discipline Committee for further investigation.
The party decided to look into Kuang’s case after she was found to have spent more than NT$12 million (US$390,000) on foreign inspection tours since taking office two years ago.
Kuang took 10 township heads to Europe last month, despite forecasts that Typhoon Fung-wong would sweep through Taiwan from the east coast. It was her eighth foreign trip in the past two years.
After the commissioner’s behavior attracted widespread criticism from local residents and politicians across party lines, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) asked the party’s Taitung branch to gather information and send it to the committee for further investigation.
Zuo Yi-rong (左義榮), director of the Taitung branch, said the branch had received negative comments from local residents and he urged both Kuang and the county government to enhance their crisis management capabilities.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS