Two individuals from the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Tainan City branch were ordered to be held incommunicado today in a case related to fraudulent signatures in recall campaigns.
KMT Tainan chapter director Chuang Chan-kuei (莊占魁) and a defendant surnamed Liu are currently being held incommunicado.
The recall petitions for Tainan Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) were found to have 99 and 107 signatures from deceased people, the Election Commission found.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s Tainan chapter
Yesterday, investigators searched several places associated with the KMT in Tainan, seizing party membership lists, cell phones and other evidence while summoning five suspects and related individuals for questioning.
Searched locations include Chuang’s home, the KMT Tainan City branch headquarters and other places.
Chuang and Liu are suspected of violating Articles 216 and 210 of the Criminal Code for forging documents, as well as Articles 20 and 41 of the Personal Data Protection Act (保護法), prosecutors said.
They are suspected of serious crimes and are at risk of destroying evidence and colluding with accomplices, prosecutors said.
Chuang and Liu were arrested this morning in Tainan District Court, while the other three people brought in for questioning were released after the interrogation, prosecutors said.
The Tainan District Court are to decide later whether to grant them bail or order them to continue to be detained.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said he respects the judiciary but hopes it would not become a political tool deployed to create a chilling effect on society.
Supporters of recall petitions against the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) lawmakers must unite as the DPP is trying to be the dominant party, he said, adding that 14 cases have been sent to the Central Election Commission.
Additional reporting by Liao Hsueh-ju and Fion Khan
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS