The Taipei District Court last night released former Eastern Multimedia chairman Gary Wang (王令麟) on NT$350 million (US$10.3 million) bail.
At the request of the Taiwan High Court, the district court yesterday reheard prosecutors’ request to keep Wang in detention.
Wang cried as he told the court that he had never once thought of absconding.
“The Bureau of Investigation’s information that I would flee to China via Penghu was false, and this information damaged my credibility and upset me,” Wang told the court. “My bail money came from my relatives, friends and coworkers. I will not leave debt behind. My mother is more than 80 years old and needs to be accompanied to the hospital regularly. I shall not leave her alone.”
Wang said he would agree to wear an electronic tag if he were granted bail again.
Wang’s lawyer Hsu Wen-bin (許文彬) urged the court to grant bail by citing the Bureau of Investigation’s surveillance record.
“The record shows that Wang stuck to his regular routine from the first day of his bail. There is insufficient evidence of any urgent need to detain him,” Hsu said.
Former Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislator Tsai Hau (蔡豪) was summoned as a witness in yesterday’s hearing, as prosecutors had speculated that he might try to help Wang escape.
Tsai said law enforcement personnel had failed to seek confirmation for their tip-offs.
Wang was detained for a second time after a short hearing on Jan. 21, which came after the Bureau of Investigation said it had received a tip that he was planning to abscond via Penghu.
Wang was first taken into custody in June 2007 following the exposure of the Rebar Group’s financial woes.
He was released in May last year on NT$350 million (US$10.3 million) bail. On Dec. 31 last year, the district court sentenced Wang to 18 years in jail and fined him NT$700 million.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
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
RSS