The Taipei District Court last night released former Eastern Multimedia chairman Gary Wang (王令麟) on NT$350 million (US$10.3 million) bail.
At the request of the Taiwan High Court, the district court yesterday reheard prosecutors’ request to keep Wang in detention.
Wang cried as he told the court that he had never once thought of absconding.
“The Bureau of Investigation’s information that I would flee to China via Penghu was false, and this information damaged my credibility and upset me,” Wang told the court. “My bail money came from my relatives, friends and coworkers. I will not leave debt behind. My mother is more than 80 years old and needs to be accompanied to the hospital regularly. I shall not leave her alone.”
Wang said he would agree to wear an electronic tag if he were granted bail again.
Wang’s lawyer Hsu Wen-bin (許文彬) urged the court to grant bail by citing the Bureau of Investigation’s surveillance record.
“The record shows that Wang stuck to his regular routine from the first day of his bail. There is insufficient evidence of any urgent need to detain him,” Hsu said.
Former Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislator Tsai Hau (蔡豪) was summoned as a witness in yesterday’s hearing, as prosecutors had speculated that he might try to help Wang escape.
Tsai said law enforcement personnel had failed to seek confirmation for their tip-offs.
Wang was detained for a second time after a short hearing on Jan. 21, which came after the Bureau of Investigation said it had received a tip that he was planning to abscond via Penghu.
Wang was first taken into custody in June 2007 following the exposure of the Rebar Group’s financial woes.
He was released in May last year on NT$350 million (US$10.3 million) bail. On Dec. 31 last year, the district court sentenced Wang to 18 years in jail and fined him NT$700 million.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS