Taipei prosecutors today indicted former Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) for allegedly displaying his stamped ballot to reporters during a recall vote on July 26.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office charged Jaw with breaching the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), and requested that the court impose a heavy sentence.
Under articles 88 and 105 of the act, displaying a marked ballot can result in penalties of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to NT$200,000.
Photo: Taipei Times
Jaw, as a well-known public figure who has participated in multiple election campaigns and has run as a candidate himself, should be fully aware of the regulation, prosecutors said.
He deliberately broke the law by displaying the marked content of his ballot, despite being told that he should fold it in half and knowing there were reporters outside the venue filming, they said.
After being reminded that he should not display his ballot, he again displayed the marked side for reporters to photograph and placed it into the box only after ensuring that they had finished shooting, prosecutors said.
After the incident, Jaw said he made a mistake and apologized for “setting a bad example.”
Calling Jaw’s comment an excuse, prosecutors said his claim that the action was unintentional was an attempt to minimize it.
Jaw today said that he respects the judiciary and everything should proceed according to the law.
Whether his attitude was good or not is subjective, he added.
He said that he answered all of the prosecutors’ questions in detail and expressed his hope to avoid prosecution.
He also told prosecutors that he would be extremely careful in the future and would not make the same mistake again, he said.
That he stayed to vote instead of going to Africa to watch the great animal migration clearly showed that he opposed the recall, Jaw said, adding that he did not need to show his ballot to convey his stance.
He said he would tell the court that his action was not intentional, stressing that he had no motive to commit an offense.
Additional reporting by Jake Chung
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