The Taiwan High Court yesterday sentenced Chang Te-cheng (張德正), who last year rammed a 35-tonne gravel truck into the front entrance of the Presidential Office Building, to six years in prison for attempted murder.
It was the second ruling on the case, with the judge handing down a heavier sentence than the first ruling by the Taipei District Court on May 10, when Chang was given a jail term of five years, 10 months.
In addition, Chang is facing a civil lawsuit filed by the Presidential Office, which is seeking damages of NT$3.4 million (US$103,738).
Chang, 42, did not comment on the sentence, but did say that he had no intention of appealing his case to the Supreme Court.
His lawyers said they would wait to receive a verdict document before deciding whether to appeal.
Chang was prosecuted for running a truck over barricades in front of the Presidential Office Building in the early hours of Jan. 25 last year.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was not in the building at the time, as he was on an official tour of diplomatic allies in Central America.
During investigations, Chang said that he committed the crime because he was frustrated by the result of a lawsuit with his ex-wife, and by the justice system’s handling of his litigation, and that he was angry with Ma’s administration for wrong-headed policies and bad governance of the nation, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors accused Chang of several offenses, including attempted murder, obstruction of performance of public duties, destroying historic relics, damaging buildings and articles, and intrusion.
His lawyers maintained that Chang, suffering from mental stress, wanted to commit suicide and did not intend to kill anyone.
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
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