Judicial Yuan President Lai Hau-min (賴浩敏) yesterday said the nation’s civilian judges are fully capable and ready to handle any military judicial cases that may be transferred to the civil judiciary after an amendment to the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法) was approved.
Lai’s remarks in the Yilan District Court yesterday morning came after an amendment to the Code of Court Martial Procedure was passed by the legislature last week, under which military prosecutions and trials during peacetime are due to be transferred to the jurisdiction of the civil judiciary.
Yilan District Court President Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩) said the district court plans to have male judges preside over military cases for the first year, allowing time for female judges to gain knowledge of the workings of the military.
In other developments, ex-convict and debt collector Tung Nien-tai (董念台) yesterday filed a lawsuit for “psychological abuse” against Chang You-hua (張友驊), a frequent guest on political talk shows, saying that Chang had made groundless accusations against military personnel allegedly involved in the death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), adding that their families could not live with his alleged mental abuse.
Tung said a family member of a military serviceman indicted over the Hung case wrote to him, saying: “The family has been nervous every day because they do not know what fabricated accusations Chang would make on political talks shows at night.”
Tung did not say which family had made the complaint.
This was the third lawsuit filed by Tung in the space of a week.
He first filed a lawsuit against members of activist group Citizen 1985 and Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), the sister of Hung Chung-chiu, saying they forced the legislature to amend the Code of Court Martial Procedure and violated the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪條例).
Tung also accused Citizen 1985 of fraud, claiming that the group had illegally raised funds as an non-certified organization.
The group organized a mass rally on Aug. 3 at which an estimated 200,000 people protested against what they said was the military’s poor handling of the investigation into Hung Chung-chiu’s death.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
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