The wife of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has been barred from leaving the country during her ongoing trial on corruption and forgery charges, a court official said yesterday.
“Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) has made public appearances — which were broadcast by the media — showing she was able to move around ... therefore we have decided to prevent her from leaving the country,” said Taipei District Court spokesman Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩).
Liu was referring to Wu’s visits to polling stations for parliamentary and presidential elections earlier this year.
The wheelchair-bound Wu collapsed in court in late 2006 at the start of her trial and has since been excused from all court sessions on health grounds.
Wu has pleaded not guilty to charges that she illegally claimed NT$14.8 million (US$450,000) in personal expenses from state funds.
Chen was also named a suspect in 2006 but escaped immediate prosecution because of presidential immunity. But prosecutors launched a corruption probe against Chen less than an hour after he lost his immunity on Tuesday when new President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office.
The former president has admitted using false receipts to claim money from the state, but insisted those funds were used for “secret diplomatic missions” and not for his personal benefit.
Prosecutors, however, allege at least US$1.5 million was spent on diamond rings and other luxury items for his wife.
Chen has repeatedly insisted that he and his family are innocent.
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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