A senior Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) official was today detained and held incommunicado over the alleged forgery of signatures in a recall petition targeting an Indigenous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator.
The Pingtung District Court approved the detention of Huang Pi-yun (黃碧雲), deputy chair of the KMT Organizational and Development Committee, about 30 minutes after her court hearing.
The Pingtung case involves 15 KMT staffers suspected of using falsified personal data in a recall campaign targeting DPP Legislator Wu Li-hua (伍麗華), also known as Saidhai Tahovecahe.
Photo: CNA
The Pingtung District Prosecutors' Office earlier said that the case could involve contraventions of 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).
Detaining Huang was necessary due to the seriousness of the charges and concerns that she might collude with accomplices or witnesses, prosecutors said.
Investigators yesterday searched KMT offices in Taoyuan, Nantou, Hualien and Taitung counties and the residences of some of the party's staffers, and questioned 15 people.
After being questioned, KMT staffer Lee Te-chuan (李得全) was today released on bail. Five other KMT staffers were released on bail of NT$100,000 to NT$200,000, while eight were released without bail.
"Prosecutors and investigators have seriously overstepped the bounds of legal investigation by raiding the homes of opposition party staff without solid evidence and coercing confessions, and violating due process and procedural justice," the KMT said in a statement.
This case is the latest in a string of investigations involving KMT members or supporters linked to recall efforts against DPP lawmakers. The KMT has condemned the nationwide probe as politically motivated.
The investigation followed a complaint filed by Wu on April 17, saying that there were 1,521 invalid signatures in the campaign targeting her, including 202 from dead people and 143 from people outside her electoral district.
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.
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
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
RSS