Court approves detention of Changhua speaker over alleged vote-buying

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) Changhua County Council Speaker Hsieh Dien-lin (謝典霖) and his father, Hsieh Hsin-lung (謝新隆), were ordered detained and held incommunicado by a court late Thursday in connection with a June banquet that prosecutors allege involved vote-buying.

Hsieh's mother, Cheng Ju-fen (鄭汝芬), a former Kuomintang (KMT) legislator, meanwhile, was released on NT$1 million bail (US$31,460), the Changhua District Court said in a press release on Friday.

In addition, Hsieh's aide, surnamed Liu (劉), and the council's director of legal affairs, surnamed Huang (黃), were each released on NT$300,000 bail, the court said.

The court said Hsieh Dien-lin, 47, as speaker of the Changhua County Council, wields considerable influence over the alleged accomplices and witnesses involved in the case and could potentially influence their testimony.

As for Hsieh's father, the court said Hsieh Hsin-lung denied the allegations of vote-buying and could also potentially influence the testimony of other accomplices and witnesses.

Citing a risk of collusion and potential witness tampering, the court deemed the detention of Hsieh Dien-lin and his father necessary and ordered them held incommunicado.

As for Cheng, the court said that although she denied the allegations, there was no evidence that she had actually attempted to collude with others or destroy evidence.

As both Hsieh Dien-lin and his father had already been detained, the court determined that Cheng's detention was unnecessary. Cheng was released on NT$1 million bail and ordered not to change her residence, the court said.

Changhua prosecutors asked the court Thursday morning to have Hsieh Dien-lin (謝典霖) and four others detained, alleging that a banquet in June for more than 10 tables of residents from Xihu Township violated Taiwan's Public Officials Election and Recall Act by serving as a covert campaign event in support of Hsieh's aunt, KMT Xihu Township mayoral candidate Chen Chen-fei (陳貞妃).

The Changhua County Council has denied the allegations, saying the gathering was an exchange among local community leaders rather than a council-organized event, and that no public funds, council budget, or speaker's discretionary funds were used.

The banquet first drew public attention in July, when Executive Yuan Central Taiwan Joint Services Center Deputy Executive Officer Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧), whose family has longstanding ties to local politics and rural affairs in Changhua, alleged that Hsieh had used the banquet to campaign for his aunt.

Following Hsieh's arrest on Thursday, KMT Culture and Communications Committee Director Chen Yi-hsin (陳以信) said prosecutors should explain the basis for their probe, which began shortly after Wu's post.

In response, Wu said that the issue was not who brought the matter to light, but whether a crime had been committed, and called on the KMT to respect the judicial investigation.