Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰) was released on NT$2 million (US$66,600) bail yesterday, and the Keelung Prosecutors’ Office said it would not appeal the decision again, after the Keelung District Court rejected its third request to detain him.
In its ruling early yesterday, a three-judge panel said the prosecution failed to justify its request by proving that there is real possibility that Huang could flee or tamper with evidence in the corruption investigation against him. Such proof is necessary for pre-charge detention.
Although the prosecution has reason to suspect Huang of having committed a felony, this alone is not enough to justify detaining him, the judges ruled.
They ordered that Huang be released on NT$2 million bail, but said he must continue to reside in Keelung.
This was the third time the district court had granted Huang bail. Its two previous decisions were revoked by the Taiwan High Court after the prosecution filed appeals.
Keelung District Prosecutor Chou Chi-yung (周啟勇) said later in the day that the office would no longer seek to detain Huang to prevent information discovered by investigators being leaked during the appeals process.
Huang, who is the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate for the Keelung mayoral race in the November seven-in-one elections, is alleged to have used his influence to have the city government approve a number of construction projects in return for bribes.
Huang came under suspicion after prosecutors received information that he pressured city officials into allowing a developer to bypass conservation regulations when building a display house.
Prosecutors questioned eight people on Tuesday, including Huang, after nearly NT$5 million in cash was found in Huang’s office that he was unable to account for.
He was released on NT$1.2 million bail on Thursday, but saw his bail increased to NT$2 million following an appeal lodged by prosecutors.
Huang’s legal troubles have created a problem for the KMT, which might have to name an alternate candidate for the November polls.
The party has said it will wait to see how the case develops before a decision is made whether to discipline Huang.
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