The Judicial Yuan yesterday said it would immediately suspend a High Court judge who was photographed meeting former Taitung County commissioner Wu Chun-li (吳俊立) while his case is under review.
Wu was charged with corruption while serving as a Taitung County councilor in 1999.
In 2002, the Taitung District Court sentenced him to 16 years in prison, but the Taiwan High Court’s Hualien branch reduced the sentence to seven years and eight months in 2003. Wu has appealed the ruling. The case is currently under review by the Taiwan High Court’s Hualien branch.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that the Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ) ethics committee recently discovered that Judge Lin Teh-sheng (林德盛) visited Wu’s home while the case was being reviewed at the High Court. Lin is one of the judges assigned to the case.
Investigators suspect that Lin may have accepted bribes from Wu in exchange for influencing the outcome of the judicial review in Wu’s favor.
Wu was placed under investigation in May after being suspected of having relations with various individuals involved with the case.
Aside from allegedly meeting Wu, it was also reported that Lin may be having an extramarital affair. Lin has recently been photographed visiting an unmarried female friend during his lunch break.
Lin yesterday denied the allegations and said he would cooperate with the investigation.
Judicial Yuan spokesperson Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said the Judicial Yuan had suspended Lin and reported the case to the Control Yuan so that impeachment proceedings can begin.
If Lin is found guilty of engaging in illegal activities or adversely affected the reputation of the prosecutorial and judicial system, he will be punished accordingly, Hsieh said.
Because Lin is still being probed by prosecutors and investigators, Hsieh was not able to elaborate on the details of the case.
At a separate setting, Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) said the ministry would investigate the matter and punish any wrongdoers.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese