Angry netizens in Taiwan have begun an Internet campaign to oust three judges for giving a child molester what they deemed to be a lenient sentence, local media reported yesterday.
More than 150,000 people have joined a Facebook page targeting the judges for sentencing the molester to three years and two months in prison, less than half the term sought by prosecutors.
They sharply criticized the judges for ruling that the six-year-old girl “did not show strong will” in fighting off her attacker, SET cable news channel said.
The Kaohsiung District Court defended the controversial decision, but vowed to “reflect and improve” following the criticism, a court spokeswoman said.
“The judges didn’t say the child had ‘consented,’ but they found that there were no violent forceful means involved,” spokeswoman Lee Shu-hui (李淑惠) said.
The case comes at a sensitive time following a string of scandals implicating top judges, which led to the resignation of Judicial Yuan president Lai In-jaw (賴英照) last month.
Several High Court judges are suspected of taking bribes from defendants, while a Supreme Court judge was accused of pressuring a lower court colleague into clearing his son of hit-and-run charges.
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
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