Law enforcement officers did not violate former minister of the interior Yu Cheng-hsien’s (余政憲) rights when they detained him on Wednesday, Taipei Chief Prosecutor Lin Ling-yu (林玲玉) said yesterday.
“Everything was done by the book,” she said.
Lin made the remarks in reaction to complaints from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers during a session of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statues Committee yesterday.
The DPP lawmakers said law enforcement personnel had violated Yu’s rights when they stopped him at Kaohsiung Airport on his way to Macau on Wednesday.
“It is my understanding that police officers boarded the aircraft and escorted Yu off the plane. It was humiliating and a violation of his rights,” DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said. “Law enforcement officers gave the impression that Yu was absconding, which was not the case.”
Yu was detained because prosecutors suspect him of involvement in a case of alleged corruption in the construction of Taipei’s Nangang Convention Center.
Prosecutors suspect Yu may have taken advantage of his ministerial position and relationship with the former first family to help the Rich Group win several government bids.
Lin told the committee a summons asking Yu to report to prosecutors for questioning yesterday had been mailed to him last Tuesday.
Yu did not ask to be excused and prosecutors learned that he was leaving for Macau on Wednesday, Lin said.
During a telephone conversation on Wednesday morning, Yu had promised prosecutors that he would appear at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday afternoon, the legislator said.
“Yu did not ask to be excused so our officers stopped him on the plane. He then reported to prosecutors on Wednesday afternoon with his lawyers. Everything was legal and appropriate. No human rights were violated,” Lin said.
Yu’s summons and eventual detention came after Rich Group president Kuo Chuan-ching (郭銓慶) decided to testify against defendants or potential defendants in the money laundering investigation against the former first family.
Prosecutors discovered irregularities in the Nangang construction project while investigating the case of alleged money laundering.
After Kuo decided to testify, Taipei Prosecutor Ko Yi-fen (柯宜汾) immediately withdrew the detention request against Kuo and released him after questioning on Wednesday night.
Kuo is still barred from leaving the country, as the Special Investigation Panel of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office needs his cooperation in investigating the alleged money laundering case.
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) described Yu’s detention as political persecution related to future elections.
Chen, who was in Jhongli (中壢), Taoyuan County, yesterday, said that prosecutors had detained former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) in the run-up to the county commissioner and city mayor elections in 2005 for his alleged involvement in corruption connected to the construction of Kaohsiung’s mass rapid transit system.
Three years later, however, prosecutors still could not indict Chen Che-nan because they could not produce any evidence to prove their claims, the former president said.
Yu’s detention was just another example of political persecution before the elections, Chen Shui-bian said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS