Taipei prosecutors said yesterday they might charge Taipei police officers with concealment of offences, destruction of evidence and leaking confidential information while handling a case of alleged assault involving singer-actress Makiyo and a Japanese friend.
Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office spokesman Huang Mo-hsin (黃謀信) said yesterday that prosecutors would soon question Xinyi precinct police officers Wu Teng-chieh (吳登傑) and Yeh Hung-sheng (葉鴻昇), who were in charge of Makiyo’s case, but apparently failed to include an important video clip in the evidence package given to prosecutors on Feb. 3.
Their supervisors would also be questioned, Huang added.
The video clip, taken by a taxi driver using a dashboard camera in his car, seems to show Makiyo shouting at a taxi driver and kicking him before being stopped by her Japanese friend, Takateru Tomoyori.
Xinyi precinct did not present the video clip to the prosecutors until the prosecutors saw the footage on TV on Wednesday and demanded the tape from the department, prosecutors said.
According to Hung, head of Xinyi precinct’s Sanchangli police station, Yang Kuo-chang (楊國昌) had admitted to the Taipei Police Station that he gave the video clip to an ETTV reporter and that footage taken from it was broadcast on TV.
Yang would face an investigation to determine if he leaked confidential information, Huang said.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday announced it had indicted Makiyo and Tomoyori on charges of assault and asked for four and six years imprisonment respectively, over the alleged beating of the taxi driver on Feb. 2.
The incident reportedly occurred after the taxi driver, surnamed Lin (林), asked Tomoyori and the other passengers to fasten their seatbelts, which they allegedly refused to do. They then allegedly assaulted the taxi driver.
Lin, who sustained serious head injuries, two fractured ribs and a concussion, was still in hospital yesterday.
Makiyo, a Taiwan-based entertainer born to a Japanese father and Taiwanese mother, and Tomoyori have been prohibited from leaving the country.
Separately yesterday, Minister of the Interior Lee Hong-yun (李鴻源) said the police had been careless in their handling of the high-profile assault case.
“Honestly speaking, the police made some clear errors in processing the case,” Lee said, adding that the police made a “serious mistake” by waiting six days before submitting a video clip of the incident.
Describing the incident as “regretful,” Lee said there were some lessons to be learned, including the wrongfulness of violence and heavy drinking.
To avoid such mistakes from happening again, he urged more on-the-job training for police officers.
He also called for the enforcement of standard operating procedures in the police force.
Additional reporting by CNA
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland
RSS