Justice officials have proposed amending the law on minor graft offenses to grant deferred prosecution or more lenient sentences, after people criticized public prosecutors for pressing charges against a trash collector who gave a rice cooker he found discarded to an elderly woman.
Much of the public anger was directed at the Taipei Shilin Prosecutors’ Office, who charged a trash collector surnamed Huang (黃) with corruption, saying he misappropriated an old, used rice cooker when he gave it to an elderly woman who scavenges garbage for a living.
Recyclers estimated that the rice cooker only had a remaining monetary value of NT$32.
Photo: Taipei Times
Huang in July found a rice cooker while collecting trash, which he took home. As it still worked, he gave it to the woman so she could use it to prepare meals.
After an investigation, Shilin prosecutors last week charged Huang with breaching Article 6 of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), or “stealing or misappropriating private property or equipment that is in his or her possession due to official position but not for official use,” as trash collectors are city employees.
Prosecutors asked the court for a lenient sentence, as Huang admitted to giving the woman the rice cooker and his offense was deemed to be very minor.
Ministry of Justice officials on Saturday issued a statement saying that they were aware of the case and are open to feedback from all sectors, adding that they had proposed an amendment where those with “minor corruption offenses” could apply for a reduced term or suspended sentence.
The ministry said it has also begun examining legal scopes and procedures to better define the criteria for a deferred prosecution, so prosecutors could have more flexibility when assessing cases.
Meanwhile, Cho Hsin-chen (卓昕岑), who is in charge of Huang’s trash collection unit in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), said that the regulation against taking recyclable materials during trash collection for personal use is well known and had been drilled into all personnel.
Cho said he also gave Huang one demerit.
Huang has been a model employee for more than 30 years and was known as a serious worker, not contravening rules nor engaging in unlawful activities, he said, adding that Huang later felt remorse for his actions.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS