A mass recall movement led by citizen groups has turned into judicial battles, as political parties and campaigners trade accusations of forgery and other offenses after names of deceased people were found on the lists of petitioners.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) and Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) yesterday went to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to file a judicial complaint requesting an investigation into alleged signature violations by a citizen group leading the campaign to recall Taipei KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇).
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Liu Yao-jen (劉耀仁), together with Taiwan Society of Law and Medicine director Lo Chun-hsuan (羅浚晅), yesterday afternoon filed a judicial complaint alleging that KMT-affiliated groups had contravened election laws by copying names from old lists of KMT membership files in the petitions they submitted, many of whom were found to be deceased.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Chen and Lo said that election officials had also found names and “signatures” of deceased people in the petitions submitted by the group calling for Wang’s ouster.
“Taipei prosecutors must investigate these, applying the same treatment that prosecutors have done in Tainan, searching [premises], summoning people for questioning and detaining those suspected of being responsible for the signature violations,” Chen said.
The Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday searched the office of a KMT chapter in Tainan and after questioning, detained the chapter’s deputy head, Chuang Chan-kuei (莊占魁), and executive director, Liu Chin-hui (劉金輝).
Chen and Lo said that the duo’s detention was unfair, and alleged that they had been treated too severely because they are KMT officials.
Tainan prosecutors said they had uncovered sufficient evidence that they had falsified some signatures and the duo would face charges of forgery, contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), and other election and recall regulations.
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