Senior DPP Legislator Chou Po-lun (周伯倫) has been barred from leaving the country after his appeal of a corruption conviction and six-year prison term were rejected, Chinese-language media reported yesterday.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused the four-term lawmaker's request for an appeal, leaving him with few options but to serve his sentence in connection with the 15-year-old Ronghsing Park development scandal.
Chou was a Taipei city councilor when he was convicted in 1989 of taking NT$16 million (US$460,000) from a construction firm. He was found guilty of accepting a bribe in exchange for dropping his opposition to the firm's plan to turn the development into a shopping mall.
In response to Wednesday's ruling, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office informed the Bureau of Immigration yesterday morning to bar Chou from leaving the country.
Article 6-1 of the Immigration Law (入出國及移民法) bars people sentenced to prison from leaving the country before serving their sentences.
Chou issued a press release yesterday to announce that he has already resigned his lawmaker post. He also said that he will report to prison authorities on time, but he also stressed that will apply for an "extraordinary appeal" soon.
"Chou will be sent to prison after the Lunar New Year holiday," Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
However, bureaucratic paperwork means it may take up to two months before the 47-year-old Chou has to report to prison.
In addition, the Judicial Yuan said yesterday that it will look into reasons for the unusually long 14-year period it took for the case to be resolved -- the longest involving a legislator.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
RSS