A recent decision by the Taipei District Court ordering a homeless man to live on a sidewalk to ensure he could receive a court summons sparked an outcry among prosecutors, who accused the court of exacerbating social problems.
In 2006, a 51-year-old homeless man named Wu Ching-yuan (吳清源) allowed his name to be used for two companies that were part of a tax evasion ring, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reported yesterday. After he was arrested on Monday, Wu admitted he allowed his ID to be used — as that of the purported president of the fake companies — by the head of the criminal ring in exchange for NT$800 per week.
Citing Wu’s violation of several corporate and tax laws, Taipei district prosecutors requested that the district court detain him. However, Wu pleaded not to be detained, saying he would appear in court after receiving the court summons.
The judge ruled not to detain Wu, but said that for the time being, Wu must stay at the address he had given to the court. As Wu is homeless, his “address” was a sidewalk on Guangfu Road (光復路) in Taichung City.
Upon hearing the court’s decision, prosecutors argued that because the sidewalk is a public space rather than a residential space, the court ruling that Wu must live on the sidewalk was not supported by any law.
“The prosecution believes [the sidewalk] is not an appropriate destination for a court summons,” Chief Prosecutor Huang Mo-hsin (黃謀信) said.
Huang said prosecutors would appeal the decision.
Taipei District Court spokesperson Huang Chun-ming (黃俊明) said yesterday the reason the court had ruled to limit his residence to the sidewalk was to ensure that he could be found and handed the summons.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS