The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by prosecutors and upheld a “not guilty” verdict for six former legislators across party lines charged with bribery in a case involving the Taiwan Dental Association’s lobbying of legislators to pass a law in 2003.
The Supreme Court upheld the verdict by the Taiwan High Court in the first retrial, which found the six former legislators — including Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), Jao Yung-ching (趙永清) and Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙) of the Democratic progressive Party (DPP); the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Chang Tsai-mei (張蔡美); and the People First Party’s Yang Fu-mei (楊富美) — as well as Tsai’s brother Tsai Chao-cheng (蔡朝正) not guilty of accepting bribes from the association in 2003.
However, the Supreme Court ordered a second retrial for former DPP Legislators Lee Ming-hsien (李明憲) and Lee Chen-nan (李鎮楠), who were sentenced to seven years and six months and seven years and two months in prison respectively in their first retrial.
The eight lawmakers and Tsai Chao-cheng were accused of taking bribes from the association to help push through the Oral Health Act (口腔健康法), which was passed in April 2003.
Tsai Huang-liang was accused of taking a NT$3.5 million (US$105,736 at the current exchange rate) bribe from the association through his brother, while the seven other legislators were accused of taking bribes of NT$1 million or NT$500,000 each.
The district court found all defendants not guilty in the first instance in 2010, but the High Court in 2011 found all nine of the defendants guilty and sentenced them to between seven years and two months and eight years behind bars.
The ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court, which ordered a retrial.
According to last year’s March retrial verdict, prosecutors failed to prove that Tsai Chao-cheng had taken bribes on behalf of his brother and they failed to prove that Tsai Huang-liang knew about the bribes and that there was a quid pro quo relationship in which Tsai Huang-liang altered his behavior as a legislator in exchange for the payment.
Prosecutors also failed to prove a quid pro quo relationship involving five other legislators, according to the retrial verdict.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS