Pingtung County Council Speaker Chou Tien-lun (周典論) today was sentenced to three years and four months in prison for buying signatures for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) attempted presidential bid.
Following a retrial, the Kaohsiung branch of the High Court today increased his sentence by two months, with an NT$1.5 million (US$47,768) fine and deprivation of civil rights for five years.
He was sentenced under the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選罷法).
Photo: Yeh Yung-chien, Taipei Times
The case may be appealed.
In the first ruling on Aug. 27, 2024, the Pingtung District Court sentenced Chou to four years in prison, with an NT$5 million fine convertible to public service, and ordered him to forfeit NT$4,930,200 in bribe money.
In the second-instance trial on April 22 last year, following an appeal by prosecutors, the High Court’s Kaohsiung branch reduced his sentence to three years and two months with a NT$1.5 million fine.
However, the Supreme Court later ruled that the original judgement had unresolved factual issues and problems in the application of the law, returning the case to the High Court for retrial.
Chou allegedly provided NT$5 million to help Gou’s petition campaign reach the necessary threshold to run as a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, the court said.
It was found that Chou paid Chaojhou Township (潮州) Mayor Chou Pin-chuan (周品全) NT$1.5 million on Sept. 1, 2023, and NT$3.5 million on Sept. 18, 2023, to buy signatures, the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The first-instance verdict was appealed as prosecutors believed the sentence was too lenient, although a panel decided that, although the total amount of bribes reached NT$5 million, the actual amount distributed to petition signatories through temples was relatively low and had limited impact on the election, the High Court said.
However, the sentence was increased in the retrial, as the court found that Chou had instructed the Chaojhou Township mayor to use “multi-level marketing,” pyramid-style methods to bribe signatories in exchange for petition forms.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS