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.
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