Judicial authorities searched the offices of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local chapters in New Taipei City, and listed 10 party executives and staff as suspects in their probes into fraud and forgery relating to petition campaigns to recall four Democratic Progressive Party legislators.
After being questioned by prosecutors, six KMT executives and staff were yesterday released on bail of NT$50,000 to NT$100,000, while the rest were freed without bail.
Law enforcement authorities on Thursday searched 16 locations, including KMT chapters in the city’s Shulin (樹林), Tucheng (土城) and Sansia (三峽) districts, summoning office directors and secretarial staff for questioning.
Photo: CNA
New Taipei City prosecutors in a news release said the investigations found evidence of fraud and forgery, including mass copying of names of people from KMT member lists without the consent of the owners and forged signatures on petitions that appear to have been written by a handful of people, in contravention of rules governing recalls and personal privacy.
New Taipei City KMT executives allegedly instructed staff and volunteers to go to party offices during the Lunar New Year holiday in February to copy names from KMT member lists, with each person receiving a “red envelope” containing NT$1,000, the release said.
Prosecutors last month also searched KMT chapters in the city’s Banciao (板橋) and Sanchong (三重) districts, and have detained KMT Banciao official Chen Cheng-jung (陳貞容) since April 29.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, Yilan County prosecutors investigating similar allegations on Thursday listed 19 KMT members as suspects, with three being placed in detention, while the head of the KMT chapter in Yilan County, Lin Ming-chang (林明昌), was released on NT$800,000 bail.
In other developments, civic groups yesterday submitted to the local election commission in Keelung 37,533 petitions to recall KMT Legislator Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥). The total number of signatures collected was 23 percent higher than the minimum required for the second-phase threshold.
Chen Ching-yi (陳青逸), head of the campaign to recall Lin, said the lawmaker had done nothing in the legislature but follow the instructions of KMT leaders to the detriment of the public, and had denigrated people by branding all recall campaign volunteers as attention-seeking “marginalized people.”
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS