Pingtung County prosecutors yesterday night requested permission to detain the leader of a recall campaign against a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker after bringing him in for questioning over allegations of signature fraud, while two defendants were released on bail.
The three were among 11 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members and staff summoned for questioning after a local KMT office was searched yesterday regarding allegations of signature fraud in a campaign to recall Saidhai Tahovecahe, an indigenous DPP lawmaker.
Among the 11 summoned for questioning were Hsiao Jung-ming (蕭榮明), chief secretary of the local KMT office, and Chang Fang-shuo (張芳碩), an aide of KMT Legislator Lu Hsien-yi (盧縣一), also known by his Rukai name Sasuyu Ruljuwan.
Photo: CNA
Chang, the recall campaign leader, was suspected of contravening the Criminal Code, the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) by forging documents, illegally processing personal data of other people and forging petitions without consent.
Prosecutors believed there is a risk that he might collude with others in testimony and tamper with evidence, requesting permission to detain him.
A detention hearing is expected to be held today.
Two defendants, surnamed Kao (高) and Lien (連), were released on NT$100,000 bail each and were restricted from leaving the country, while eight others, including Hsiao, were released without bail.
Prosecutors said the case is to be “cautiously” handled based on the principle of impartiality as it involves the public interest and has attracted a lot of attention.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS