At least 10 people in Taichung, Changhua questioned in recall cases

Taichung, May 2 (CNA) At least 10 individuals in Taichung and Changhua County were questioned by prosecutors on Friday in connection with alleged signature falsification in recall campaigns against lawmakers.

In a brief statement, the Taichung District Prosecutors Office said the individuals are being investigated for potential violations of the Personal Data Protection Act and the Criminal Code related to document falsification.

An investigation is ongoing into reports of falsified personal information on recall petitions targeting five lawmakers, the office said, without disclosing their names or party affiliations.

According to various sources, however, the investigation involved campaigns to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純), and Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒), Liao Wei-hsiang (廖偉翔) and Huang Chien-hao (黃健豪).

Searches were carried out at eight locations in Taichung and Changhua County earlier Friday, including the offices of "one or more political party" as well as the residences and district offices of those individuals taken in for questioning, prosecutors said without clarifying which party or parties were involved.

Meanwhile, Yen Wen-cheng (顏文正), chairperson of the KMT Taichung Chapter, confirmed to CNA earlier in the day that the chapter's office had been searched by prosecutors.

Without providing further details, Yen said the chapter is cooperating with prosecutors and police in the investigation.

KMT staff members Wu Kang-lung (伍康龍) and Yang Ta-wei (楊大緯) were among those taken in for questioning following the search.

In a separate statement, the KMT Taichung Chapter said it respected the judiciary's handling of the case in accordance with the law, but emphasized that the latter must uphold the principles of neutrality and fairness, and should not be influenced or manipulated by political forces.

"Judicial procedures should be based on facts and centered on evidence, and must not become a political tool used to suppress dissent or influence elections," it urged.

The raids in Taichung and Changhua came in the wake of similar incidents carried out recently by prosecutors in Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung, targeting allegations of fraudulent signature collection by KMT campaigns seeking to recall DPP lawmakers.