Sixteen defendants were summoned to the Kaohsiung District Court for a hearing in the Kaohsiung City Council bribery case, but only four of them actually showed up.
The four were DPP Legislator Lin Chin-hsing (
Chen is a former KMT member and Lee is a former DPP member, but both were expelled from their parties after they were indicted on charges of accepting bribes to throw the election of the Kaohsiung City Council speaker.
Among the no-shows at the third hearing in the case were former KMT members Tsai Ching-yuan (
Also failing to appear were Huang Shih-lung (
According to law, elected city councilors are afforded judicial immunity for as long as council is in session.
This was the second time these indicted councilors had taken advantage of the judicial immunity they have during a council session to avoid a summons by the court.
The court filed an official notice to the city council on May 9 urging these councilors to be present for yesterdays hearing. It didn't want a repeat of the second hearing on May 2, for which only four councilors attended.
The Kaohsiung District Court made no immediate comment about the repeated absences.
In yesterday's hearing Chen Han-sheng, Lee Chiao-ju and Hsu did not defend themselves when questioned by the judge. Lin, on the other hand, insisted on his innocence.
Chang Wen-hsiu is accused of taking a NT$5 million bribe from Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Chu An-hsiung (
Lin was indicted as an accomplice because he was present when the alleged transaction took place.
"I was there, but I did not know my ex-wife accepted the bribe. How can they indict me because of this?" Lin said.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS