The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office took away one of the main organizers of a Kaohsiung legislatorial recall campaign for questioning after carrying out a search on the recall campaign's headquarters and the residences of its organizers today.
The recall campaign targets Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislators Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) and Huang Jie (黃捷), referring to itself as a “double strike” campaign against the DPP.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
Police questioned and took away Chu Lei (朱磊), who is leading the campaign against Hsu Chih-chieh, and confiscated several computers.
The residences of Chu and another campaign leader, surnamed Huang (黃), were also searched.
Speaking to assembled media, Chu said that he “was not surprised” by the investigators and that this investigation “demonstrates the importance” of the recall campaign.
Chu compared the search to authoritarianism, saying that in the past he would have had to answer to Taiwan Garrison Command, whereas now it is to the Investigation Bureau and in the future it would be martial law courts.
Chu said details about the case were not entirely clear to him and that he would not comment further, although he said the search was not related to the second stage of his recall campaign and called on people to continue supporting their efforts.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office declined to comment.
Hsu Shang-hsien (徐尚賢), the “double strike” campaign leader, called today’s search an example of “blatant political interference.”
The Kaohsiung Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chapter said it was not involved with the campaign, although it called for a fair judicial process and asked for investigators to act impartially.
Legislative Speaker and former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), a member of the KMT, said in a Facebook post today that the public expects the judiciary to uphold democracy and rule of law, calling on prosecutors and police to defend their independence.
Han expressed his hopes that the judicial process would never serve any political party and that those involved would uphold Taiwan’s hard-won freedoms.
Additional reporting by Ko Yu-hao
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS