Three legislative candidates whose campaigns have been the target of bribery investigations yesterday insisted on their innocence, after 50 people -- including one of the candidates, 48 vote-captains, and one township representative -- were indicted by prosecutors on Monday night.
The three campaigns involved are those of independent candidate and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Chin-sung (何金松), who is seeking re-election in Chiayi; the DPP's Lin Kuo-hua (林國華), who is seeking re-election in Yunlin; and the Taiwan Solidarity Union's Chen Chiang-sun (陳江順), who is campaigning in Taoyuan County.
Ho was indicted on bribery charges on Monday night, along with 33 of his vote-captains and Minhsiung Township Resident Representative Ho-Tsung-chi (
At a press conference at the Minhsiung Township Office yesterday, Ho said the charge was unfair and criticized prosecutors for indicting him so quickly after only a three-day investigation.
"I can't believe that they have gone through all the details and decided to indict me within three days," Ho said. "It is obvious that somebody wants to defame me."
According to Chiayi Prosecutor Wang Chuan-cheng's (王全成) indictment, Ho allegedly treated 40 voters in his constituency to a free buffet dinner that cost the campaign NT$30,000, during their trip to Taipei City on Oct. 27. Ho Tsung-chi also attended the dinner to seek support from those present.
Wang suggested a two-year sentence for both Ho Chin-sung and Ho Tsung-chi.
Wang also indicted 33 of Ho Chin-sung's vote-captains but did not suggest sentences.
As for the DPP's Lin, the Yunlin prosecutor did not indict him, but did indict 15 of his vote-captains and suggested eight-month sentences for each. Lin's vote-captains allegedly organized a free dinner party for nearly 250 people in Hsilo Township -- Lin's constituency -- and asked these participants to support Lin to win his re-election.
According to video footage which was presented by prosecutors as evidence, Lin attended the dinner party as well. But prosecutors decided that he did not join his vote-captains' campaign activity during the dinner.
Lin said that he was only a guest at the dinner party and that the vote-captains held the party for him as a token of appreciation for his helping them apply for compensation from the Ministry of National Defense on land issues.
"I was considering whether I should go, but I eventually decided to join them because I have nothing to fear," Lin said. "I did not do anything illegal."
The TSU's Chen was not indicted either, but three of his vote-captains were detained by Taoyuan Prosecutor Liao Chiang-hsien (廖江憲), in a case that is still under investigation.
Vote-captains Lin Chin-hsing (林金興), Chen Chuan-tsu (陳傳族) and Wang Ming-teh (王明德) were detained because they allegedly bought votes for Chen by giving away free packages of rice, tea, coffee and wine to Chen's constituents.
"We spent nearly a month carrying out surveillance against Chen's vote-captains and supporters and discovered that these voters would pick up their free giveaways at Chen's campaign headquarters," Liao said.
Chen said that he would respect the prosecutors' investigation, but claimed that it is impossible for him to buy votes.
"For campaign activities, I am dead broke now," Chen said. "How can it be possible for me to have the budget to buy votes?"
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS