About 300 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court today, as it held a preliminary hearing ahead of the trial of Taipei babysitters accused of abusing a one-year-old child to death in December 2023.
The demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse today holding white chrysanthemums and shouting that the “demon babysitters” should not be granted parole.
Sisters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) were entrusted to care for the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
In April last year, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted the pair on charges including child abuse resulting in death.
The court this afternoon summoned the sisters for a preparatory hearing.
The case is to be tried under the citizen judge system, although the citizen judges are yet to be selected as the trial has not yet begun.
Chia Yeong-chieh (賈永婕), chairwoman of Taipei Financial Center Corp, which owns and operates Taipei 101, was present at today’s event.
Chia has been speaking openly about the case on social media and calling for amendments to impose the death penalty or life sentences without parole for child abuse crimes.
Protestors outside the courthouse today held handwritten placards reading “no lenience for child abuse,” “abused children have no voice” and “society must not turn a blind eye.”
They also called for harsher sentences and the death penalty in cases of fatal child abuse.
Officers from the Zhongzheng First Precinct restricted vehicles from entering Changsha Street Sec 1, which connects Taoyuan Street and Yanping S Road, although protestors remained respectful and orderly.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS