Raphael Lin (林秉樞), former boyfriend of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜), was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison by the New Taipei City District Court yesterday.
Most of the term can be commuted to a fine of NT$780,000.
Lin did not appear in court yesterday, as he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Photo: Tian Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January indicted Lin on charges including assault causing injury, unlawful confinement, illegally recording intimate activities, threatening behavior and slander.
A psychiatric assessment of Lin determined that he had full mental capacity at the time of the crime.
The office asked the court to sentence Lin to at least three years in prison, as his behavior was “abominable.”
Prosecutors and police officers found that Lin took intimate images of Kao in September last year, followed by slandering and threatening her in October, as he suspected that she had contacted a former boyfriend.
On Nov. 11 last year, Lin coerced Kao to stay in a room at the Grand Forward Hotel in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) for two days, forcing her to take off her clothes and proceeding to abuse her, prosecutors said.
On Nov. 24 last year, Lin became angry at Kao after Vice President William Lai (賴清德) did not attend his mother’s funeral, forcing her to kneel and kowtow in front of the funeral hall, they said.
On Nov. 29 last year, after discovering that Mirror Media magazine would report the incident, Lin told Kao that “if I die, you will die too,” prosecutors said.
After the report was published the next day, Lin was detained and held incommunicado by prosecutors.
Kao and her lawyer did not appear in court yesterday, but responded to the ruling in the afternoon.
She said that the sentence was too lenient and “completely unacceptable,” adding that she would “definitely file an appeal.”
Lin was found not guilty of the charge of unlawful confinement, which Kao deemed as “seriously harmful” because he had allegedly hurt more than 10 women who were afraid to come forward.
Hoping that no one else suffers what happened to her, Kao said that she would push for legal amendments to protect victims of abuse.
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
RSS