“Fighting Against Bribery: Farmers Association Election”

Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office, Kousiung Office of Southern Region Branch, Agriculture and Food Agency, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan Jointly Held an Event on Anti-Bribery

Given that local farmers association will hold an election for the chief or deputy chief of it’s farming unit, and it’s representatives on February 21, 2021, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office (KDPO) convened Kaohsiung City Police Department, Investigation Buro, Agency against corruption and relevant law enforcement agencies to discuss measures to investigate for  bribery and related violence. KDPO also promoted anti-bribery policy to farmers and staffs who attended the conference held at the meeting room on the second floor of Kousiung Office of Southern Region Branch, Agriculture and Food Agency, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan(hereinafter called the Kousiung Office). In the conference, the KDPO proclaimed that illegal election bribery would be strictly investigated, so that any bribery or violence would not be permitted in the upcoming election of farmers association. In addition, farmers were encouraged to participate in events against bribery.

   The anti-bribery promotion conference started from the opening remarks of the Kohsiung Office Director Huey-inn Wang(王惠嫈), and then the KDPO Head Prosecutor Inn-Fang Liu(劉穎芳) made a presentation, using vivid figures with textual description of regulations and relevant contents, to illustrate that any vote buying and selling vote with interest exchange could be regarded as bribery. In addition, that illegal acts, such as making a candidate agree to abandon the campaign or to perform certain campaign activities by asking for expected promises or delivering bribes or other undue benefits to the aforesaid party, and assaulting or intimidating the civil servants to encumber election or voting, would incur criminal penalties was emphasized. In the conclusion of the presentation, Head Prosecutor Inn-Fang Liu(劉穎芳) quoted the anti-bribery slogan ”No vote buying and selling is our responsibility to pass down” from Ministry Of Justice, to appeal farmers against bribery. If any suspected bribery is found, please contact the KDPO by phone (free complaints line: 0800-024-099) or e-mail (address: kscele@mail.moj.gov.tw). There can be up to 2 million NT dollars of rewards for successful anti-bribery whistleblowing. At the end of the conference, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office Chief Civil Service Ethics Officer Chang-Chie Hsu(許正杰) gave the attendees an interactive quiz contest to reinforce the awareness of anti-bribery. Furthermore, improving honest and ethical voting behavior to achieve non-bribery election was expected.