A recent decision by the Taipei District Court ordering a homeless man to live on a sidewalk to ensure he could receive a court summons sparked an outcry among prosecutors, who accused the court of exacerbating social problems.
In 2006, a 51-year-old homeless man named Wu Ching-yuan (吳清源) allowed his name to be used for two companies that were part of a tax evasion ring, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reported yesterday. After he was arrested on Monday, Wu admitted he allowed his ID to be used — as that of the purported president of the fake companies — by the head of the criminal ring in exchange for NT$800 per week.
Citing Wu’s violation of several corporate and tax laws, Taipei district prosecutors requested that the district court detain him. However, Wu pleaded not to be detained, saying he would appear in court after receiving the court summons.
The judge ruled not to detain Wu, but said that for the time being, Wu must stay at the address he had given to the court. As Wu is homeless, his “address” was a sidewalk on Guangfu Road (光復路) in Taichung City.
Upon hearing the court’s decision, prosecutors argued that because the sidewalk is a public space rather than a residential space, the court ruling that Wu must live on the sidewalk was not supported by any law.
“The prosecution believes [the sidewalk] is not an appropriate destination for a court summons,” Chief Prosecutor Huang Mo-hsin (黃謀信) said.
Huang said prosecutors would appeal the decision.
Taipei District Court spokesperson Huang Chun-ming (黃俊明) said yesterday the reason the court had ruled to limit his residence to the sidewalk was to ensure that he could be found and handed the summons.
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