The Taiwan High Court yesterday found former New Party legislator Elmer Fung (馮滬祥) not guilty on a charge of raping his Philippine housekeeper in 2004.
Fung had been found guilty by the Taipei District Court and convicted twice by the Taiwan High Court, but after the Philippine woman appeared as a witness and withdrew her accusation, Fung was found not guilty by the Taiwan High Court.
Prosecutors said they could take the case to the Supreme Court.
The Philippine woman, identified only as Rose, accused Fung of raping her in August 2004, and provided prosecutors with the underwear she wore after the alleged rape and a pair she said she wore after she took a shower six hours after the incident.
After the Philippine woman filed the lawsuit, Fung agreed to pay her NT$800,000 in compensation.
Rose’s supporters claimed that the cash was hush money.
Prosecutors and forensic scientists found DNA on the maid’s underwear that matched Fung’s. The victim’s injuries and her statements also corroborated the accusation that Fung had sexually assaulted her, prosecutors had said.
Fung told judges that his former maid had framed him by taking semen from a condom he had used when having intercourse with his wife and smearing it inside her underwear. Fung yesterday said he was glad the court had cleared his reputation.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
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