Taichung prosecutors yesterday declined independent Legislator Yen Ching-piao’s (顏清標) request for another delay to the beginning of his three-and-a-half year jail sentence, but have not decided what action to take.
“We must consider justice in this case. We cannot continue to grant his requests again and again or it will not be fair to others,” said Hung Pei-ken (洪培根), spokesman for the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office.
Hung made his remarks when approached for comments on Yen’s decision to schedule an operation yesterday morning when he was supposed to report to prosecutors to begin his jail sentence at 10:30am, and his filing of a request to prosecutors for another delay.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
Hung said that Yen’s defense counsel filed the application on Friday hoping to delay the sentence for another five weeks because he was planning to have surgery yesterday morning. Prosecutors eventually decided to decline the application, after talking to Yen’s doctors, but the surgery was carried out at Taipei Veterans General Hospital yesterday morning anyway.
Doctors said that Yen’s surgery was to remove a polyp from his throat. Taichung Prosecutor Tsai Wen-chuan (蔡雯娟) was present for discussions with Yen’s doctors about whether the surgery was urgent and whether he could be transferred to a prison hospital afterwards, where he could begin his jail time.
Yen was originally scheduled to begin his jail sentence on July 23, but was rushed to hospital late on July 22 after suffering a minor heart failure. The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office granted his request to delay the beginning of his sentence to yesterday.
The Supreme Court rejected Yen’s appeal on his conviction for illegal possession of firearms in June upholding the three-and-a-half-year sentence.
The charges stem from an incident in 1996 that occurred shortly after Yen received a threatening telephone call.
His bodyguards fired at a car that he believed was following him, riddling the car with more than 40 bullets.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost