Public prosecutors yesterday announced they would not indict former Kaohsiung Prison head warden Chen Shih-chih (陳世志) and former deputy warden Lai Cheng-jung (賴政榮), saying there was no evidence they were involved in the attempted jailbreak and hostage-taking by six inmates in February.
In the statement, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office also said it would not indict the six inmates, who overpowered security guards and officials to seize firearms and took hostages during the 14-hour standoff on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12, since the six had died during the incident, allegedly by committing suicide by shooting themselves in the head.
Prosecutors investigated speculation that top prison officials might have colluded by providing inside help to the six inmates, who were headed by Cheng Li-te (鄭立德), the alleged leader of a Kaohsiung chapter of the Bamboo Union (竹聯幫) gang, who was serving a 28-and-a-half-year sentence for murder and other crimes.
The probe focused on Chen and Lai, since the two were taken hostage and later acquiesced to the convicts’ demands by ordering subordinates to dispatch two police cruisers to the facility as getaway cars.
The prosecutors’ statement said Chen and Lai “were physically confined as hostages and under threat by Cheng and rest of his gang, who were carrying firearms ... and under the violent threats and dangerous conditions, they were forced to call to arrange for the police cruisers.”
“Under such circumstances, it was difficult to adjudicate whether the two officials had violated the law, in dereliction of their official duties, by providing aid or allowing incarcerated inmates to escape,” the statement said.
The decision not to prosecute also rested on the probe’s conclusion that no unusual financial transactions were found in bank accounts belonging to Chen and Lai, and there were no transfers of money from other prison officials, the hostage-taking inmates or their families and relatives.
Records from 84 bank accounts from 55 banks and financial institutions were investigated, the statement said.
However, the prosecutors said there was negligence by Chen and Lai, especially concerning their lax management of the prison’s armory and the ease with which the inmates were able to seize firearms.
Both officials were disciplined by Ministry of Justice’s Agency of Corrections. They were both demoted, removed from their posts and given major demerits.
The statement said that since prosecutors have examined the evidence and witness’ testimonies and determined the inmates had committed suicide, they would not be indicted.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard