The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a 20-year prison sentence imposed by a lower court on a man charged with attempted bombings of a High Speed Rail train and a lawmaker’s office more than two years ago.
Hu Tsung-hsien (胡宗賢), a lawyer, was convicted in his first retrial by the Taiwan High Court on two counts of attempted murder for making bombs and planting two on a train traveling north from Taichung and two outside Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen’s (盧嘉辰) office in New Taipei City.
An accomplice, Chu Ya-tung (朱亞東), was also found guilty and given a prison sentence of 10 years and six months.
The Supreme Court’s decisions cannot be appealed.
The Taiwan High Court revoked an earlier ruling it made in which Hu was found guilty of additional charges of forgery and obstruction of public utilities.
That ruling came with a 22-year sentence for Hu, while Chu was given 12 years.
The Taiwan High Court ruled that Hu had Chu had planted two suitcase bombs on the train and another two outside Lu’s office on April 12, 2013, in a convoluted scheme to manipulate the stock market.
Beyond wanting to cash in on the stock market, Hu also planned the bombings in anger at being indicted in February 2013 on charges of extortion and leaking private information, the court said.
Hu and Chu, who are both in their 40s, fled to China’s Guangdong Province after planting the bombs, but were found and arrested with the help of the Chinese authorities.
The two were repatriated on April 15, 2013.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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