The Kaohsiung Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生), chief of Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu’s (陳菊) office, and Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆), secretary-general of the city’s Tourism Bureau, over allegations that they had forged Chen’s schedule for the day Typhoon Fanapi caused severe flooding in the city.
According to the indictment, a number of accidents had been reported in Kaohsiung from 3pm on Sept. 19, which had been declared a typhoon day in the city. To cover the fact that Chen was still taking a rest at her residence during that time, Tseng and Lai allegedly forged her schedule for the afternoon to avoid criticism of her.
To avoid a blank period in her schedule, Tseng and Lai wrote that she was scheduled for city inspections from 2pm to 5pm, including inspections in the city’s severely flooded Sanmin District (三民).
Responding to the indictments, Tseng and Lai said the schedule was “a careless written mistake.”
Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), spokesman for Chen’s campaign headquarters, said Tseng and Lai displayed the schedule to the city council and media to clarify some false accusations against Chen.
A TV talk show falsely accused Chen of campaigning for her re-election on that afternoon was to blame, Chao said.
He said the mayor’s daily schedule was provided to the media for reference only and that the schedule was not an official document.
As a result, the crime of document forgery does not exist subjectively or objectively, Chao said, adding that Tseng and Lai would defend their reputations in court.
Prosecutors announced on Friday that they would not indict Chen and Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) for negligence of duty on the day of the typhoon.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS