The Taichung District Court yesterday granted the request of Taichung prosecutors to detain two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) staff members suspected of falsifying signatures on petitions aimed at recalling two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
Chen Chien-feng (陳劍鋒) and Wu Kang-lung (伍康龍) from the KMT’s Taichung chapter allegedly committed multiple offenses to push recall votes against DPP legislators Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純), the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
The alleged offenses include contraventions of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), the office said.
Photo: CNA
Prosecutors asked the court for permission to detain Chen and Wu, saying that it was necessary to prevent possible collusion and destruction of evidence.
Prosecutors on Friday questioned 13 people, including Chen and Wu, regarding alleged signature falsification in the recall campaigns against Tsai and Ho.
Six were released on bail ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$200,000 (US$3,219 to US$6,438) and ordered not to leave the country. Five faced no further action.
Six people involved in a separate recall effort in Taichung against KMT legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒), Liao Wei-hsiang (廖偉翔) and Huang Chien-hao (黃健豪) were also questioned, with none facing further action.
Prosecutors initiated the probes following a Central Election Commission report that cited allegations of forgery, including petitions bearing the signatures of deceased people.
Prosecutors on Friday searched eight locations in Taichung and Changhua County, including offices associated with “one or more political parties,” as well as residences and district offices of those questioned.
The probe showed that the recall campaigns had collected petitions bearing the signatures of 154 dead people, with 83 on petitions against Tsai, 66 against Ho, three against Liao, and one each against Yen and Huang, commission data showed.
The raids mirrored actions by prosecutors nationwide in the past few weeks, mostly targeting KMT offices.
As of yesterday, prosecutors had also searched KMT chapters in Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Yilan County, Changhua County, Kaohsiung and Tainan.
The investigations have resulted in the detention of several KMT chapter officials, including KMT Taipei chapter chairwoman Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹).
The recall campaigns were started by the DPP, with DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in early January calling for a mass recall of KMT lawmakers.
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