In comments made to reporters before answering a summons issued by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, two People First Party (PFP) lawmakers said yesterday they were innocent of inciting a group of protesters to damage and to break into the Central Election Commission's (CEC) Taipei headquarters on March 26.
Prosecutors had summoned Legislators Chiu Yi (
"I was there with the crowd. But I did not encourage or give the order to the group to break into the CEC office," Chiu said.
"I know who gave that order, but it was not me and I can not say who that was," Chiu said.
However, Chiu said that he would tell prosecutors everything he knows about the incident, including the identity of the person who gave the order to break into the building.
According to prosecutors, Chiu, Feng, Lee and Lin joined the protesters on March 26 and tried to stop CEC workers from posting the election results on a bulletin board. Protesters later damaged the glass door of the CEC building and broke into the building. In the disturbance, police officers and some protesters were injured.
Feng also told reporters that he had not encouraged the crowd to riot.
"I arrived at the CEC with Taipei City Councilwoman Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊), who is also one of our alliance's lawyers, around 1pm that day. We went upstairs to talk to CEC officials until 5pm. How could it be possible that I encouraged the crowd to riot?" Feng said.
Neither Lee nor Lin made any comments to reporters at the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office yesterday.
On April 13, the Taipei City Police Department arrested two alleged members of the North Union Gang (
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and