Former Yunlin county commissioner Chang Jung-wei (
"The MOJ has approved Chang's parole application. However, the MOJ still needs to seek the opinions of judges for the Taiwan High Court's Tainan branch, who have been hearing a suit about Chang's involvement in the Linnei Township (林內鄉) incinerator construction scandal," Vice Minister of Justice Wang Tian-sheng (王添盛) said.
"If the judges think releasing Chang would not affect the trial and agree to free him, Chang will be released soon," Wang added.
Chang's release has been a closely-watched issue in Yunlin County political circles.
According to the law regulating parole, Chang was qualified to be released from jail starting on Nov. 1, but the MOJ avoided dealing with the sensitive issue before the Dec. 3 local government elections in a bid not to complicate the election campaigns.
Chang, who is now independent, used to be a pan-green supporter but decided to endorse the pan-blue camp during last year's presidential election.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) commissioner candidate Hsu Shu-po (
Hsu lost the election to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬).
The Supreme Court in March handed down the final verdict for Chang, sentencing him to a year in jail for his involvement in the 1994 Yunlin County Council speakership election bribery case.
The verdict said that Chang and then-councilor Chen Kuo-yi (
Chen was seeking the vice-speaker post.
On Feb. 8, 1994, a 34-member group left on a 16-day trip to Indonesia and Singapore.
Chang was also arrested last December for his involvement in the Linnei Township incinerator construction scandal.
The Yunlin District Court in October sentenced him to 14 years for accepting a huge bribe in connection with the project.
Chang appealed the sentence to the Taiwan High Court's Tainan branch.
The vice minister said the period he has already served since being detained in December last year can be deducted from his 12-month sentence.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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