Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chiu Chuei-chen (邱垂貞) and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Liao Fu-peng (廖福本) were yesterday sentenced to eight years and eight years and six months in prison respectively, for accepting bribes from the National Chinese Herbal Apothecary Association in 1998.
Six other former legislators were acquitted.
In its verdict, the Taipei District Court said that Chiu accepted a bribe of NT$5 million (US$151,000), while Liao accepted NT$6 million from the association. In addition to their sentences, Chiu and Liao were deprived of their civil rights for five and six years respectively, and they were ordered to return the money to the association.
Chiu said that he would appeal.
“The money I received from the association was a political donation, not a bribe. This is a problem of different definitions of the money,” Chiu said. “I will definitely appeal.”
Chiu said that everybody involved in the case had received money from the association. The method judges used to define the money he received as a bribe was not convincing, he said.
“How do you prove the money was a bribe? This is not fair,” he said.
Liao also disputed the ruling.
“I was instrumental in having more than 1,000 bills passed into law during my terms, but I never received a dime in bribes,” said Liao, who served as a lawmaker between 1992 and 2001.
The case began on Jan. 17 last year when the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel indicted eight former and incumbent lawmakers, including Chiu and Liao, on charges of corruption for accepting bribes from the association in return for their endorsement of an amendment to Article 103 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法) that would restore the right of herbalists to fill medical prescriptions.
The amendment was passed in March 1998.
In addition to Chiu and Liao, DPP legislators Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅), Jao Yung-ching (趙永清) and Lin Kuang-hua (林光華), the KMT’s Hsu Shu-po (?? and Cheng Horng-chi (陳鴻基) and People First Party legislator Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) were also indicted.
Among those indicted, only Lee won re-election last year.
Besides Chiu and Liao, the rest were found not guilty.
Former DPP vice presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) was also investigated by prosecutors, but he was not indicted.
Prosecutors said that any donation of more than NT$300,000 would be considered a bribe. Su accepted NT$100,000 from the association.
Additional reporting by CNA
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS