TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Former Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Hsiao Bi-khim had her NT$9,000 bike stolen yesterday.
The theft occurred while Hsiao and two other former DPP legislators were trying to argue with Taipei district court judges against the continued detention of their ex-comrade Chiou I-jen.
Tuan Yu-kang and Lin Chuo-shui, along with Hsiao, visited the Taipei courthouse in the morning to file an appeal for release of the former secretary-general of the National Security Council.
When they came out of the courthouse, Hsiao could not find her expensive mobile bike she had parked nearby. “I parked it by a utility pole,” she said.
“It was gone when I returned,” Hsiao added. She did not say if she was going to file complaints with police.
Chiu was arrested on October 31 on charges of embezzlement and has since been held incommunicado at the Taipei detention house at Tucheng.
“Prosecutors of the Special Counsel who requested Chiou’s detention as well as judges who approved it were wrong,” said Lin, who together with Hsiao and Tuan belong to the DPP’s New Tide faction, its largest. Incidentally, Chiou founded the faction.
He was charged with pocketing at least US$500,000 in travelers’ checks that were expected to be given to a high-ranking Thai government official.
Prosecutors have continued to hold Chiou because they suspect he helped former President Chen Shui-bian stash away a slush fund.
Chen, indicted on December 12 on charges of graft and money laundering, is suspected of pulling strings from behind the scenes to amass millions of dollars by claiming the money was spent for conducting his secret diplomacy with Chiou’s assistance.
source: chinapost.com
