The legislature has backed the court order to continue to detain three lawmakers who were indicted Monday on charges of taking bribes.
The three in custody are ruling DPP lawmaker Su Chen-ching and opposition KMT lawmakers Chen Chao-ming and Liao Kuo-tung. The decision came after cross-party negotiations and was announced Tuesday.
The three lawmakers have been held at the Taipei Detention Center since August 3 for alleged violations of the Anti-Corruption Act.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office says the three allegedly took bribes from former Pacific Distribution Investment Co. Chairman Lee Heng-lung to help him in a legal battle over ownership of the Pacific SOGO Department store chain.
Three Taipei District Court judges ruled that the three lawmakers should continue to be kept in custody given the severity of their crimes. But the court needed legislative approval according to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China.
Article 4 of the additional articles says that no member of the Legislative Yuan may be arrested or detained without the permission of the Legislative Yuan when that body is in session The only exception would be when a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offense.
The legislature began its tenth session on September 18 and is scheduled to be in session until December.
A total of 12 people were indicted Monday in the case.
In a separate case, independent lawmaker Chao Cheng-yu was indicted Monday for alleged tax evasion and owning property of unknown origin. He was incriminated after prosecutors found NT$1.7 million in cash in his office. The Taipei District Court released Chao was released on his own recognizance on Tuesday.