The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday established a task force to combat bribery and election-related violence, which is to take special note of new methods of paying bribes, such as cryptocurrencies and mobile payments.
The November local elections would be a challenge for the judiciary, especially in three areas — bribery, fake news and possible foreign intervention — Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said at the establishment ceremony.
Local prosecutors’ offices have established temporary command centers to provide technical support when investigating election cases, Tsai said, exhorting the task force to stop at nothing to prosecute any person seeking to sway an election through wealth or violence.
Photo: CNA
Law enforcement officers and the judiciary should also take note of new methods of payment, such as cryptocurrencies and mobile payment systems, which could replace traditional ways of paying bribes, he said.
The judiciary should closely monitor any abnormal payments to election candidates or their heelers via the ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit, he added.
The judiciary must also pay attention to whether an election has been swayed by fake news and, in the instance of confirmed fake news, the judiciary must act swiftly to debunk the claims as soon as possible, Tsai said.
Talking about anti-bribery measures is still a useful ploy and adequate use of the Internet to disseminate the message would also help convince young people to call out any acts of vote-buying, Prosecutor General Hsing Tai-chao (邢泰釗) said.
The central government plans to create and distribute anti-bribery videos to local prosecutors’ offices, airports and railway stations, he said.
Anti-bribery efforts and measures to prevent coercion by force would continue as usual, but prosecutorial units would prioritize the prosecution of cases involving fake information, Hsing said.
He added that he would ask local prosecutors’ offices to task prosecutors with looking into cases of suspected foreign invention, while stepping up police sweeps of underground currency exchanges and betting pools.
Hsing also mentioned cryptocurrency, online game credits and other things with monetary value that could be used to bribe voters as something to look out for.
The judiciary would be looking very closely at whether the source of payments come from foreign sources and prosecute those involved for contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), Hsing said.
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