Liang Wenxiao, the village representative candidate for the third constituency (South District) of Xiulin Township, Hualien County, nominated by the Kuomintang, was questioned by the Hualien Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of election bribery. The Hualien District Prosecutor's Office petitioned the court for detention today. The Hualien District Court believed that there were risks of escape, destruction of evidence, and collusion with accomplices and witnesses. There were reasons and necessity for detention. It ruled that Liang Wenxiao and Wu Zhuangjiao should be detained, and they were immediately transferred to the Hualien Detention Center.
The Hualien District Court held that the defendants surnamed Liang and Wu violated the election and recall law. They were detained at the request of the prosecutor during the investigation. After being interrogated by the judge, they found that the defendants were suspected of serious crimes and there were enough facts to prove that the defendants were in danger of colluding with accomplices or witnesses. They ruled that the defendants should be detained and prohibited from visiting, communicating, and receiving objects.
It is understood that Liang Wenxiao led a crowd to the township office to register for the election at the beginning of last month. Afterwards, he hosted a banquet for villagers with voting rights and distributed a gift of 1,000 yuan to celebrate their birthdays. He was suspected of bribery in disguise. In addition, he also used a stakeholder named Wu to target villagers with voting rights in the constituency and seek support from the voting public at a price of 2,000 yuan per vote. Liang Wenxiao also serves as the chairman of the Xiulin Township Genna Alu Hometown Care Association. In March and May this year, he used holiday public activities to continuously donate toilet paper to voters, and some voters received several boxes at a time.
The Hualien District Prosecutor's Office pointed out today that prosecutor Huang Songgui investigated the case of the Hualien County Xiulin Township village representative candidate surnamed Liang, his surname Wu Zhuangjie and others for allegedly bribing the election with cash ranging from NT$1,000 to NT$2,000, violating the election and recall law for public officials. Yesterday, he directed the Criminal Police Brigade of the Hualien County Police Department to investigate the case. The team, the Second Investigation Team, the Xincheng Branch, the Ji'an Branch, the Hualien County Investigation Station of the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, the Fourth Brigade of the Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Interior Police, and other units, carried out search tickets issued by the Hualien District Court in Taiwan to 19 places including the defendant's residence to conduct searches, and arrested and notified a total of 32 defendants and witnesses to report to the case.
After interrogation by prosecutors of the special case team, it was found that the defendants surnamed Liang, surnamed Wu Zhuangjiao and others were involved in the serious crime of voting bribery under Article 99, Paragraph 1 of the Public Employee Election and Recall Act. They were at risk of fleeing, destroying evidence, and colluding with accomplices and witnesses. There was a reason and necessity for detention. Yuan applied to the Hualien District Court in Taiwan for a detention prohibition; the other defendants were asked to return.
The Hualien District Prosecutor's Office emphasized that as the election schedule approaches, it has integrated law enforcement teams such as prosecutors, police, investigation, integrity, and immigration within its jurisdiction to fully grasp the dynamics of the election. It adopts the principle of "quick investigation, strict handling, and upward tracing" to fully investigate all types of money and illegal interference in the election without limit. This department reiterates that there is no bottom line and no holiday when investigating bribery. Any illegal crime that attempts to exchange benefits for votes will be pursued to the end and no leniency will be tolerated.
There are 3 village representative seats to be elected in the 3rd Electoral District (Southern District) of Xiulin Township. Liang Wenxiao ran for the election as a non-party member last time in 2022. He received 230 votes that year and ranked 7th with a vote rate of 9.21%. He failed to be elected. This time, Liang Wenxiao was nominated by the Kuomintang to make a comeback and run for the village representative again. There are 3 seats to be elected in the 3rd District. This time, 7 people registered. The competition is fierce.
