Newly-elected independent lawmaker Chang Li-shan (張麗善) and her sister-in-law protested in front of the Yunlin District Court for a second day yesterday as they pushed for her brother to be released on bail for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei (
"I am just somebody's wife who is hoping that her husband can come home for the New Year," Wang Yueh-hsia (王月霞) said yesterday. "I hope that judges can begin to hear the case as soon as possible and allow my husband to be bailed out."
Chang Li-shan and Wang were joined yesterday by Wang's daughter Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) and 10 other relatives as well as Yunlin County councilors Chen Juei-hsiung (陳瑞雄), Lin Tsai-tien (林再添), Wang Shih-jen (王士壬) and Lin Yung-fu (林永福).
"My grandparents are not in good health and they simply want to have my father home for the New Year. I hope that this little wish can be fulfilled," Chang Chia-chun said.
The family members sat quietly in front of the court building despite the efforts of police officers to persuade them to go home.
"No protests or parades are allowed in the court building area. We hope that none of them have broken the law because of this," said Chen Chin-ling (陳金陵), director of the Huwei Precinct of the Yunlin County Police Department.
The investigation into the incinerator scandal began last June, when prosecutors received a tip-off from an anonymous Yunlin resident who claimed that county government officials -- including Chang Jung-wei -- had accepted a huge bribe in connection with the incinerator contract.
Last July, Linnei Mayor Chen Ho-shan (陳河山) admitted that he accepted a total of NT$18 million in bribes from contractors who wanted to ensure they would win the bid.
Chang Jung-wei went into hiding on Aug. 13 and was finally arrested by prosecutors and police officers on Dec. 9.
Yunlin prosecutors indicted him on Jan. 17, suggesting that he receive a life sentence.
By law, prosecutors are supposed to release a defendant on bail as soon as they have indicted him or her, or they can request an extension of detention for three more months.
Prosecutors asked that the former councilor remain in detention and judges granted the request immediately.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS