The Tainan District Court on Monday acquitted the Tainan City Council speaker, deputy speaker and eight others of vote-buying charges in a case that has been under litigation for more than a year.
The Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office on March 2 last year indicted Tainan City Council Speaker Chiu Li-li (邱莉莉), Deputy Speaker Lin Chih-chan (林志展) and eight others on charges of vote-buying, bribery and coercion.
They alleged that Lin and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Central Executive Committee member Kuo Tsai-chin (郭再欽) met frequently with Chiu between Oct. 24, 2022, and the Tainan speaker election on Dec. 25 to provide Chiu with information that allowed her to manipulate the results of the election, then the three bribed and intimidated councilors to influence their votes.
Photo: Taipei Times
The group allegedly promised to support then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Councilor Lee Chen-kuo’s (李鎮國) campaign for council speaker as an independent in the next election if he were expelled by the KMT, and Kuo promised to fund the campaign, prosecutors said.
The DPP caucus of the Tainan City Council on Monday said they respect the court’s decision.
The acquittal marks the end of the entire affair, and does justice to those accused, it added.
It also called on the DPP’s central committee to lift Chiu and Lin’s suspension from the party as soon as possible.
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