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.
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