Two men accused of a failed attack on a high-speed rail train and outside a lawmaker’s office in April last year were given heavy sentences yesterday by the New Taipei City (新北市) District Court.
Defendants Hu Tsung-hsien (胡宗賢) and Chu Ya-tung (朱亞東), Hu’s aide, were sentenced to jail terms of 22 years and 12 years respectively on charges of attempted murder, attempted arson and forgery.
Hu and Chu were sentenced for placing suitcases containing incendiary devices on northbound high-speed rail train No. 616 and outside Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen’s (盧嘉辰) office in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Tucheng District (土城).
Hu left suitcases containing flammable substances in front of Lu’s office with a note which had the name of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) written on it and said the suitcases were to be given to Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), the ruling said.
After Hu placed the devices on the high-speed train, he placed an order to short-sell 500 shares. All four bombs failed to explode due to either mishandling on Chu’s part or design flaws, the court said.
The two men fled Taiwan to China after planting the incendiary devices.
Chinese authorities — with the aid of facial recognition software — apprehended the pair in Guangdong days later and repatriated them to Taiwan.
The district court said the two men can appeal the ruling to the Taiwan High Court.
The ruling said Hu’s attempt to attack a high-speed train which could have caused serious casualties was “evil.”
The ruling said that by arguing that the devices in the pieces of luggage would not cause a lot of damage and that he wanted to express his dissatisfaction with the state of society Hu had not shown any remorse for his actions.
The court added Hu, who is not only a lawyer but also holds certificates in the fields of chemistry and finance, did not simply want to express his dissatisfaction with society, but attempted to gain personal profit from short-selling various stocks prior to the attempted attack.
The court said Hu had spent a lot of time looking up Clostridium botulinum (a toxin-producing bacterium) and how to remotely detonate incendiary devices using a mobile phone, the court said.
During questioning, Chu agreed to cooperate with investigators and to reveal what he knew of Hu’s how dangerous those plans had been to Chu himself.
Chu said he did not know the suitcases contained incendiary devices until he smelled gasoline, adding that he had asked Hu after getting off the train whether the stakes were not too high.
Chu had been in great danger while placing the suitcases, police said, adding that they suspected that Hu had intended for Chu to take the fall for him.
Police said that if Chu had died Hu might have escaped arrest because of insufficient evidence, adding that it might have worked, as Chu was the last link in the plot.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS