Former KMT lawmaker Huang Hsien-chou (黃顯洲) yesterday testified in court for the first time in the robbery case that involved allegations by him that he was abducted and forced to partake in a sex party in a hotel room.
But Huang never answered the questions of the judge, the prosecutor or the defending counsels directly and he left contradictions in his statement.
The Taipei District Court (
At the pre-trial hearing, Huang again denied that there was an arranged sex party in the hotel room at the Grand Hyatt Taipei and insisted that he was "serving his voters" and that he had no idea that his visit would turn into a criminal case.
Huang said that Chan called him on Dec. 26 and asked for a 1am meeting on Dec. 27 at the hotel -- to discuss her mother's monetary problems. But after he entered the room and drank a cup of tea provided by Chan, he soon became unconscious.
He said that when he woke up on Dec. 28, he found himself naked and he was tied up on the bed. Chan and Yu told him that they had taken pictures of his naked body and blackmailed him with those pictures.
The Taichung-based former lawmaker said that he came to Taipei for business on Dec. 25 and that he stayed at his Legislative Yuan office for most of the time. However, his statement was contradicted by his cellular phone record.
"Huang's testimony raised many questions," said Lee Ming-yu (
According to the indictment, Huang arrived at the hotel and was allegedly fed drugs by Chan and Yu. They then called two Chinese prostitutes for a sex party. Huang reportedly fell unconscious immediately and Chan and Yu then took NT$13,000 from Huang's wallet and asked the two prostitutes to leave.
During Huang's detainment at the hotel -- from Dec. 27 to Dec. 31 -- Chan allegedly threatened Huang into giving her his PIN number and withdrew a total of NT$800,000 from Huang's account by using his ATM card.
Taipei Prosecutor Kuo Yung-fa (郭永發) sought a ten-year sentence for Chan on charges of solicitation and robbery. Yu was charged with robbery as well but the prosecutor did not recommend any sentence for him because Yu has agreed to testify against Chan in the trial -- which would make him a witness under the protection of the Witness Protection Law (證人保護法). According to the law, the prosecution has the option to leave any sentencing decisions regarding the defendant up to the judge's discretion.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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