Pingtung speaker charged for election act violations

PINGTUNG (TVBS News) — The Pingtung District Prosecutors Office has charged Kuomintang's Pingtung County Council Speaker with violations of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act on Thursday (Feb. 22).

Pingtung County Council Speaker Chou Dian-lun is suspected of buying signatures priced at NT＄500 and helping Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn, to reach the required number of endorsements in the presidential race. The investigation into the case was concluded on the same day with a decision to detain Chou.

Chou's daughter, Chou Meng-jung, is separately under scrutiny by prosecutors.

Additionally, Chaozhou Township Mayor Chou Pin-chuan, along with three other individuals who admitted their guilt after the violation, have been given a suspended prosecution. They separately paid amounts of NT＄500,000, NT＄200,000, NT＄100,000 and NT＄100,000 to the state treasury.

◎ TVBS News would like to remind its audience that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.