The Taiwan High Court said it would hold a hearing on Wednesday at the earliest on whether to keep former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in detention.
Chen’s current term of detention expires on Friday.
The courts are in the process of moving Chen’s corruption and money-laundering case from the district court, where the first verdict was passed down by judges in Judge Tsai Shou-hsun’s (蔡守訓) courtroom, to the Taiwan High Court for an appeals process.
The High Court will assign judges for the appeals through a random drawing this week. With the exception of four judges who are due to retire or seriously ill, all 86 high court judges are required to participate in the drawing.
The selection process will be closely watched because the Council of Grand Justices has yet to announce their interpretation on the constitutionality of switching of judges in Chen’s case.
A panel of judges ordered last December that Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) be replaced by Tsai in the trial of Chen and 12 codefendants. The change prompted complaints of procedural flaws and political interference.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Special Investigation Panel (SIP) said on Friday that it had submitted its appeal of the sentences given to Chen, his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), his son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), Wu’s friend Tsai Ming-che (蔡銘哲), former first family bookkeeper Chen Chen-hui (陳鎮慧) and contractor Kuo Chuan-ching (郭銓慶).
In their appeal, prosecutors said the sentences of some of the defendants were disproportionate to their involvement in the crimes, and that certain money-laundering crimes should be ruled on independently instead of including them as part of the corruption case.
The Taipei District Court found Chen Shui-bian, his wife and 11 codefendants guilty on Sept. 11 and sentenced the former president and his wife to life in prison and fines totaling NT$500 million (US$15.4 million).
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
RSS