The High Court’s Taichung branch has sentenced a woman to three months in jail for forgery and violating personal privacy laws by taking photos to report more than 200 parking violations by using her neighbor’s contact information.
The 50-year-old woman residing in Taichung County’s Daya District (大雅), surnamed Hong (洪), was found guilty by the court which, in addition to sentencing her to serve the three-month sentence, required her to pay NT$60,000 (US$1,854) in compensation in the civil litigation case.
The court filing on Friday quoted Hong as saying that she was irate over illegal parking clogging up alleys and street sidewalks in her neighborhood, so she took photographs to file 218 complaints at the local police precinct in a six-month period in 2021, prompting officers to issue fines to the infringing vehicle owners.
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
However, Hong feared retribution from the vehicle owners, so she used the address and telephone number of her neighbor, a 58-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), as police investigators found the two women had personal disputes in past years over building of illegal structures at their residential housing.
After uncovering Hong’s actions, public prosecutors indicted her for forgery and breaches of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), while Chang filed a civil lawsuit demanding NT$500,000 in compensation.
Chang said she had to go to the police precinct several times for her statement, due to initial media reports that she was the “informer” who filed the parking violation complaints in 2018, saying that it was an invasion of her privacy, and she suffered from mental and physical stress, and sleep disorder symptoms from the police questionings and having to prove her innocence.
In the court filing, Chang said she needed treatment by doctors and medication for the resulting mental health issues and ailments.
In her litigation, she sought NT$500,000 in damages from Hong, for combined medication and treatment expenses, as well as personal damages unrelated to property assets, and compensation for damaging her reputation and her privacy.
At the court hearing Hong said that she entered her own name and ID card number, adding that she was using publicly available information when she entered the phone number and address, as Chang owns a traditional medicine store and listed its address and contact number on store advertisements.
Hong also demanded proof of medical expenses from Chang for her mental and physical ailments, as directly linked to police questioning and other issues pertaining to the case.
After being acquitted in the court of first instance, the appeal to the High Court found Hong guilty and imposed the three-month sentence, while judges in the civil litigation ordered her to pay NT$60,000 in financial compensation, an amount lower than NT$505,810 Chang demanded.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost