Several people in Chiayi County have been questioned as part of the widening probe into alleged violations of election campaign law, with prosecutors yesterday saying that they have gathered sufficient evidence after several people admitted to receiving cash in exchange for their vote.
The Chiayi District Court on Monday ruled to detain and hold incommunicado Shueishang Township (水上) Council Chairman Wu Pei-yu (吳培裕) on suspicion of participation in vote-buying activities.
The court also detained and held incommunicado a former village warden surnamed Hsieh (謝), after prosecutors said their investigation indicated Hsieh allegedly received NT$500,000 from Wu, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), with demands to “buy votes.”
The Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said it applied to the court to have Wu and Hsieh detained after questioning.
The court granted the request, citing the risk that the two suspects might flee, as well as the likelihood of collusion and destruction of evidence.
Reports emerged on Friday last week after authorities apprehended five individuals in Shueishang, with two people suspected of distributing between NT$500 and NT$1,000 per vote to people, while three others were quoted by police as saying they had sold their votes in return for cash.
As of yesterday, prosecutors had summoned 21 people for questioning in connection with the investigation into people allegedly paying for votes for a legislative candidate surnamed Lin (林).
After Wu was detained, Democratic Progressive Party legislative candidate Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘), who is contesting the same legislative seat in Chiayi as the KMT’s Lin Chiang-chuan (林江釧), accused Lin Chiang-chuan of being involved in vote-buying.
Lin Chiang-chuan denied the allegation.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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