Several novel election interference methods have been discovered, with most funded by foreign powers, Prosecutor-General Hsing Tai-chao (邢泰釗) said on Friday.
Hsing made the remarks at a meeting on election-related investigations, which was convened by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and was attended by head prosecutors from across Taiwan.
Accepting money, unusually cheap trips or other perks in exchange for political support is a breach of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said.
Photo: Taipei Times file
The penalty for contravening the law is up to 10 or 15 years in prison depending on whether the crime was committed by following the instructions of an external force, it said.
Colluding with external forces breaches the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), and it comes with a penalty of up to five years in prison, it said.
As of Thursday, prosecutors were investigating 2,938 cases of alleged election-related law breaches and have listed 3,125 people as defendants, including 40 who were placed in pretrial detention, it said.
About 1,300 of these cases involve election gambling schemes, while contravention of the Anti-Infiltration Act accounted for 96 cases, in which 190 people were named as defendants, it said.
An investigation by the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office, in which borough wardens have been indicted for allegedly accepting free trips from Chinese officials in exchange for election support — a first in the nation — is among the 96 cases.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office is handling the case of China Pan-Blue Association member Chen Chih-cheng (鄭志成), the first person in the nation to be listed as a defendant in Beijing’s trips-for-votes scheme, it added.
Prosecutors are also probing 290 alleged disinformation cases related to the elections on Saturday, with the same number of people listed as defendants, it said.
Hsing had several times said that disinformation, Chinese electoral interference and vote-buying schemes were the main challenges for prosecutors handling breaches of electoral laws, adding that election gambling is also a national security threat financed by groups that have a vested interest in influencing election outcomes.
Members of the public should report election-related crimes via the hotline 0800-024-099, extension 4, to protect democracy, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said.
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