The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday decided not to press charges against 15 civilians and military officers who were allowed into a restricted military base and to board an Apache helicopter, on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
The 15, including five officers in an elite special-forces unit, faced disciplinary measures after television personality Janet Lee (李蒨蓉) posted photographs on Facebook showing her and her husband sitting in the cockpit of an Apache helicopter at a military base in northern Taiwan.
The photographs caused a furor due to the perception that the aircraft is off-limits to visitors, as it has classified weapons technology. Photographs of the cockpit’s instrument panel were also posted.
Photo: Li Shao-ling, Taipei Times
According to the office, during the four-and-a-half-month-long investigation, 37 people were summoned for questioning and investigators searched 16 locations, as well as confiscated smartphones, cameras, dashboard cameras and tablet devices and laptop computers from the 15 suspects.
Surveillance footage from the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade base in Taoyuan’s Longtan District (龍潭), as well as related files, were requested and sent to the Ministry of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation for inspection.
The investigation revealed no violation of the National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), the Punishment Act of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍懲罰法) and Vital Area Regulations (要塞堡壘地帶法) by Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng (勞乃成), who conducted the tour for Lee and her entourage, or any of the other defendants.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
According to the office, Lao had not given false information to the duty officer when he led Lee and her entourage into the base as the duty officer did not ask for identification after seeing that Lao outranked him.
Lao, 40, is a pilot-instructor for the aircraft and head information security officer at the base. He was sent to the US for 18 months of training on Apache helicopters and was seen as a rising star in the airborne unit prior to the incident.
Claims that Lao took the Apache helmets, with heads-up-displays, off base to parties were refuted as other flight trainers confirmed that officers often take their helmets when they moved bases or were out on missions.
Flight trainers called in by the office for questioning said that the helmet was just an ordinary military helmet when not electronically connected to devices inside the helicopter cockpit, adding that it was not considered a military weapon.
Queries sent to the US by the Ministry of National Defense received response stating that the layout of the Apache helicopter and its instrument panel are not considered classified, and provided photographs of the Apache instrument panel found on the Internet that were clearer than Lee’s photographs.
Separately, the office also said that the case against former commander of the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade Major General Chien Tsung-yuan (簡聰淵) bringing family into a military base without permission was closed without charges after inconclusive investigations.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese