Taipei prosecutors indicted former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) and 15 others yesterday for violating the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) for unregistered protests during last year's Double Ten National Day.
Shih launched an anti-President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) campaign last August to urge Chen to resign.
On Double Ten National Day, Shih led thousands of red-clad protesters at a rally outside the Taipei Railway Station and claimed to have "besieged" the Presidential Office.
The indictment said the anti-Chen campaign organizers had not applied for a permit from the Taipei City Police Department to hold a parade or rally on Oct. 10 last year, as required by the Assembly and Parade Law.
Prosecutors said the police had put up warning signs and broadcasted requests to the organizers to get their followers to leave, but the protesters refused to move.
Among those indicted with Shih were Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春), People First Party Legislator Shen Chih-hwei (
Nine others were named in the indictment: Chien Hsi-chieh, Liu Kun-li (劉坤鱧), Chang Fu-chung (張富忠), Jerry Fan (范可欽), Wang Li-ping (王麗萍), Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), former New Party legislator Cheng Lung-shui (鄭龍水), former Chinese Unity Promotion Party chairman Lin Cheng-chieh (林正杰), Chinese Culture University professor Yao Li-ming (姚立明) and lawyer John Wei (魏千峰).
If found guilty, the defendants could be sentenced to a maximum of two years imprisonment.
In related news, independent Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) was indicted by Taipei prosecutors yesterday for violating the Assembly and Parade Law with a rally she organized on June 25 last year.
Chin led hundreds of people to rally outside the Legislative Yuan to back demands that President Chen resign. She had not obtained a rally permit.
In related news, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Lin Kuo-ching (
During Shih's month-long anti-Chen campaign last year, Lin told a press conference that Shih had left his supporters at an overnight sit-in rally to go to a hotel to sleep.
Wang Shih-cheng was indicted for telling another press conference that Shih's campaign was acting under directives from Chinese authorities and that Shih had sent representatives to China to report to the authorities there on the protests.
Shih sued both legislators for slander last fall. Prosecutors said the pair had failed to supply evidence to prove their allegations.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS