Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) accusations of judicial persecution ring hollow given the large numbers of “dead people” found on their recall signature petitions, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
The KMT has in the past few days unfairly accused public prosecutors of targeting KMT members, and leveled charges of political interference in the justice system by the ruling party, DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
“Judicial probes into fraud and signature forgery in recall petitions are based on material evidence, not politics. We urge both the KMT and the TPP [Taiwan People’s Party] not to disparage and smear Taiwan’s justice system to further their own party’s interests and draw media attention,” Wu added.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Local election commission officers have found 1,923 instances of “signatures” by deceased people in KMT-led signature campaigns to recall DPP lawmakers, Wu said.
That is more than 160 times higher than the 12 instances found in campaigns led by citizens’ groups to oust KMT legislators, she added.
About 30 percent of the KMT campaigns contain irregularities and errors, including possible fraud and likely forged signatures of dead people, compared with 4 percent by citizens’ groups, Wu said, citing the latest available figures.
DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said that signatures submitted by all recall campaign groups were verified by city and county election commission officials, who cross-checked them with local household registration offices.
Therefore, the KMT has no ground to stand on when they protest that the party was being unfairly targeted when its members were questioned by prosecutors about the fraudulent signatures, Lin said, adding that two of the most prominent probes involved cases in Taipei and New Taipei City, which are governed by KMT mayors.
“The irregularities and violations clearly show that the campaigns to recall DPP legislators are led by KMT Youth League and party members, in which they merely copied names and personal information from old party membership lists. That contrasts with citizens’ groups and activists not affiliated with political parties who have diligently set up stations outside to ask citizens to join their campaign and sign up in person,” Lin added.
Attorney Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said that the “signatures of deceased people” were most likely done by KMT members by copying members’ lists to meet the signature threshold and deadline.
They could be charged with forgery under Article 211 of the Criminal Code, with offenders facing a lengthy sentence, he added.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
RSS