Twelve staffers from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) offices in Yilan County were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging signatures in a campaign to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇).
Among those charged were Lin Ming-chang (林明昌), chairman of the KMT’s Yilan County chapter, and two senior officials, Yu Ling-chieh (俞凌傑) and Chen Chien-feng (陳堅豐), identified as the main figures overseeing the office, according to the Yilan District Prosecutors Office.
The other nine were the heads of KMT offices in local townships and cities.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The 12 were indicted for suspected violations of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and document forgery, allegedly committed to ensure the petition passed the first stage of the recall process, which required a minimum of 3,653 valid signatures to be submitted by Feb. 3.
Prosecutors said Lin, Yu and Chen allegedly instructed the nine office chiefs to forge around 4,000 signatures using party member information on Jan. 23 and 24, with each staffer paid NT$100 to NT$150 (US$3.38-5.06) per hour.
Of the around 4,000 falsified signatures, 1,106 were selected and combined with 3,100 signatures from actual supporters, submitted to the Central Election Commission (CEC) by Yu, Chen and campaign organizer Lee Hui-ling (李惠玲).
Prosecutors described the operation as “collective fraud,” saying the actions undermined Taiwan’s democratic process by violating election regulations and infringing on the rights of both Chen Chun-yu and the KMT members whose data was misused.
Prosecutors requested heavy penalties for Lin, Yu and Chen Chien-feng, citing the risk of evidence tampering and collusion.
Lin denied any wrongdoing, while Yu and Chen Chien-feng admitted to copying information but attempted to shield Lin from responsibility.
Lee, who led the recall campaign but claimed no knowledge of the forgeries, was not indicted.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
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