Taiwan High Prosecutor’s Office Tainan Branch judge Hsu Hong-chi (徐宏志) was relieved of duty on Friday, the first time a judge has been sacked for playing mahjong.
Hsu, 66, likes to play mahjong, and plays more than a hundred times a year. After he ruled that former Tainan County Council speaker Chou Wu-liu (周五六) was innocent in a vote-buying lawsuit in 2001, Hsu played mahjong with Chou and Chou’s wife.
He allegedly took more than NT$10 million (US$306,000) in bribe money from Chou.
BRIBE ALLEGATIONS
Although Hsu was found innocent of taking a bribe in his first and second hearing, he was relieved of his duties on Friday by the Committee on the Discipline of Public Functionaries because he “indulged in the game of mahjong and played it with a defendant.”
Chou was alleged to have bribed councilors before the Tainan County councilor speaker election in 1994 and allegedly offered paid vacations abroad to several councilors.
SPECULATION
While Chou’s judges found him guilty in the first and second hearings, Hsu found him innocent in the final hearing.
It was speculated that Chou’s wife, Chen Hsiu-hsia (陳秀霞), had learned that Hsu was a mahjong fan and began playing mahjong with the judge via an introduction from Hsu’s mahjong buddy, Lin Ting-lie (林廷烈).
Taiwan High Prosecutor’s Office Tainan Branch spokesperson Yeh Ju-cheng (葉居正) said on Friday that Hsu had been suspended from his post in July 2006.
Yeh said the court would process the committee’s orders regarding his termination when it receives them.
Hsu also lost his pension plan, which would have amounted to more than NT$10 million. However, he can still practice as a lawyer.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正) said the Ministry of Justice should restrict controversial judges from practicing law.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716