Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Six people were released on bail early Tuesday, and another was released without bail, after being questioned over alleged involvement in the falsification of signatures on recall vote petitions targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
The case relates to two recall vote campaigns directed at DPP lawmakers Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) and Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶), who respectively represent Taipei’s first and fifth electoral districts.
Liu Ssu-yin (劉思吟), Lai Yi-jen (賴苡任) and Man Chih-kang (滿志剛) were each released on NT$500,000 bail, while Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Lin Jui (林叡) posted bails of NT$300,000 and Chen Kuan-an (陳冠安) posted NT$200,000 bail, according to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office.
Liu, Lai, Man and Chen are members of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Youth League and have been dubbed the “four knights of the recall Wu campaign.”
The six suspects are currently barred from leaving Taiwan in accordance with the law, prosecutors said.
Another activist, Chang Ko-chin (張克晉), who has led the campaign targeting Wu Szu-yao, was also questioned as a suspect and released without bail.
In addition to the seven suspects, four others were questioned as potential witnesses: Hsieh Li-hua (謝麗華), a co-organizer of the recall vote campaign targeting Wu Pei-yi; Hsieh’s husband, surnamed Chen (陳); Jan Chia-wen (詹嘉文), lead proposer in the first stage of the recall campaign against Wu Szu-yao; and Lee’s mother, surnamed Chen (陳).
The judicial investigation, which also involved searches of six residential locations on Monday, led to accusations by the KMT that prosecutors were targeting opposition activists for political reasons.
KMT lawmakers Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀), Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) and Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) appeared outside the Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Monday night to denounce what they called “judicial injustice” and “political persecution.”
To maintain order, dozens of officers from the Zhongzheng First Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department were dispatched to the scene, police said.
According to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, the investigation into alleged recall vote fraud was launched in March following complaints filed by DPP members, including party spokesperson Justin Wu (吳崢) and Taipei City Councilor Liu Yao-jen (劉耀仁).
The accusations pointed to possible criminal document forgery and violations of the Personal Data Protection Act, prosecutors said.
Under the direction of the Taipei prosecutors, the Investigation Bureau’s Taipei branch began collecting information from the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Taipei City Election Commission.
Prosecutors said several signatures on the recall petitions were found to have been submitted without the signers’ knowledge or consent.
Under the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, citizens may attempt to recall district-elected lawmakers by collecting signatures from local residents and submitting the joint-signature petitions to the CEC.
If enough valid signatures are submitted — at least 1 percent of the total number of eligible voters in the district in the first petition round, and then at least 10 percent in the second round — the elected official will face a public recall vote, according to the CEC.
Taiwan is currently in the midst of unprecedented mass recall vote campaigns, with supporters of the DPP and KMT both trying to unseat dozens of lawmakers from the opposite side of the political aisle.
