Lawmakers yesterday passed an amendment to the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) which broadens the definition of criminal organizations, making it applicable when charging members of political parties that are controlled by criminal gangs or known to threaten public safety.
The act formerly defined criminal organizations as standing and for-profit organizations that engage in violence, coercion, fraud, extortion or any other actions punishable by a maximum prison term of five years or longer.
The amendment substitutes “and” with “or,” which effectively widened the definition of criminal groups, which no longer have to be “for-profit” to warrant indictment.
Photo provided by police
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), who proposed the amendment, said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been covertly commanding Taiwanese criminal gangs to infiltrate demonstrations and protests, as well as cause social disorder.
The situation has worsened to the extent that it threatens national security, and he hopes that the legislation would solve those problems, he said.
The amendment includes a new stipulation against name-dropping: People who imply or claim that they are affiliated with criminal gangs or their members — through actions, words or any other means — to pressure others into selling their assets or shares, relinquishing proprietary rights, cooperating with urban renewal projects, purchasing goods or services, repaying a debt or agreeing to terms laid down during debt settlement negotiations face a maximum jail term of three years and a maximum fine of NT$3 million (US$100,027).
Those who contravene this stipulation are also to be punished even if the criminal gangs or gangsters they cited no longer exist.
To offer victims or witnesses of organized crime better protection, they can question or confront suspects via audio or video calls, the amendment stipulates, adding that victims or witnesses who are overseas can do so by seeking help at the nation’s representative offices.
In other developments, new changes were made to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例) to enhance the safety of minors at amusement arcades and Internet cafes, as well as to prevent them becoming the subject of sexual exploitation.
Under the amendment, employees at amusement arcades and Internet cafes are now on a list of businesses whose occupants should proactively inform local police or prosecutors upon learning that a minor is under threat of sexual exploitation, including having nude photographs taken, being allowed to engage in prostitution or bar-hosting, being solicited or shown sexually explicit material.
The act now includes penalties for people who entice, trick, force or accommodate minors as a way to have them perform bar-hosting duties, such as at erotic karaoke bars or as escorts.
Offenders face a maximum jail term of one year and a maximum fine of NT$300,000.
Those who have minors perform bar-hosting through the use of violence, coercion, drugs or subterfuge face a jail term of between three and five years and a maximum fine of NT$1.5 million.
DPP Legislator Lee Li-feng (李麗芬), who initiated the amendment, said the renaming of the act from the Child and Youth Sexual Transaction Prevention Act (兒童及少年性交易防制條例) to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act in 2015 was momentous, but it was not enough to avoid potential pitfalls facing minors.
The passage of the amendment was the fruit of collaboration between lawmakers, interest groups and academics, she said.
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