The Shilin District Court yesterday convicted four Singaporean university students of sexual assault and handed down suspended sentences that would see them avoid prison time, but with conditions preventing them from leaving the nation until their probation expires.
The four were originally sentenced to jail terms of between 20 and 23 months, but the judges suspended the sentences and gave probation of four years for two of them and five years for the other two.
As it was the first ruling on the case, the defendants can appeal the court’s decision.
Photo: Huang chieh, Taipei Times
After a late night of revelry and drinking by the four in December last year, two Taiwanese women said they were raped by the group.
Lau Wei Seng (劉瑋城) was an exchange student at a university in Taipei, while the other three are friends who were reportedly enrolled at universities in Singapore.
The three friends were identified by Singaporean newspaper the Straits Times as Bryan Ong Kun Jun (王琨駿), Tan Juan Yin (陳俊穎) and Lim Wei Xuan (林煒軒).
All four were aged 23 at the time.
Lau testified that he invited the three from Singapore for a visit, with the group touring around the nation before ending the trip at a bed-and-breakfast in Taipei, where the alleged sexual assault took place.
The judges cited an agreement by the four men to pay financial compensation of an undisclosed amount to the two women as justification for the suspended sentences.
The two victims have agreed to the private settlement and reportedly said they were willing to forgive the four men and not pursue the case further, the court ruling said.
While the suspended sentences mean the four men do not have to serve time in prison, their probation requires them to remain in Taiwan until their terms expire, as the judges imposed protective control measures.
The measures require the four to regularly report their activities and whereabouts to probation officers, and any further infraction of the law would see the suspension lifted.
Lau reportedly met one of the women, known as “Siao Fang” (小芳), at a nightclub in Taipei on Dec. 11, and later invited her back to the group’s lodgings to party with his friends.
Siao Fang reportedly invited a friend to the party, drinking late into the night.
Afterward, the two women accused the men of forcing them to have sex while they were inebriated, despite their objections.
The defense said it was consensual sex between adults, quoting Siao Fang as saying that they could have sex with her, but “please don’t hurt my friend.”
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS