Members of a pro-independence group yesterday voiced their support for the new Control Yuan members and urged them to investigate criminal charges against former presidents Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as well as former minister of transportation and communications Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪).
Members of the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign held a news conference in front of the Control Yuan building in Taipei as the final two of the 11 new members nominated by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) were being sworn in.
Chen had served more than six years of a 20-year sentence for corruption before being released on medical parole in 2015. Kuo was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2013 on corruption charges and was released on medical parole in 2016.
Campaign director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) said there were flaws in Chen Shui-bian’s prosecution and trial, including alleged perjury by a witness and a guilty verdict that was based on Chen Shui-bian’s political influence on a land expropriation case instead of any credible evidence of criminal activities.
The conviction of Kuo was also controversial in that US$20,000 bribe money, which Kuo was convicted of taking, was never found, Chilly Chen said.
Ma was able to survive multiple charges brought against him, including the allegation that he leaked secret information related to an ongoing prosecution in 2013, suggesting political intervention in the judiciary, Chilly Chen added.
“We call for a reinvestigation and the realization of transitional justice in the judiciary,” Chilly Chen said.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
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CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
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