Man gets 20 years for failed bomb attacks
2015/07/02 14:29:53
Hu Tsung-hsien.
Taipei, July 2 (CNA) The man behind the attempted bombings of a High Speed Rail (HSR) train and a lawmaker's office two years ago was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday in his first retrial by the Taiwan High Court.
Hu Tsung-hsien (胡宗賢), a lawyer, was convicted on two counts of attempted murder for making the bombs and having them planted on the moving HSR train and outside Kuomintang Legislator Lu Chia-chen's (盧嘉辰) office in New Taipei.
Hu's accomplice, Chu Ya-tung (朱亞東), was also found guilty and given a sentence of 10 years and six months.
The Taiwan High Court revoked its original ruling in which Hu was also found guilty of forgery and obstruction of public utilities.
The sentences can be appealed.
[The suitcase bombs found on the high speed train. Photo courtesy of Taiwan High Speed Rail]
The Taiwan High Court found that Hu had Chu planted two suitcase bombs on the HSR train and another two outside Lu's office on April 12, 2013, in a convoluted scheme to manipulate the stock market.
Beyond wanting to cash in on the stock market, Hu also planned the bombings to vent his anger at being indicted in February 2013 on charges of extortion and leaking private information, the court said.
Hu and Chu, both in their 40s, fled to Guangdong Province in southern China after planting the bombs but were found and arrested with the help of the Chinese authorities. The two were brought back to Taiwan on April 15, 2013 for trial.
(By Liu Shih-yi and Y.F. Low)
