Appeal Denied! Hsieh Dian-lin and His Father to Spend Mid-Autumn Festival in Detention as Court Ruling Details Released

Hsieh Dian-lin, Speaker of the Changhua County Council, and his family are suspected of embezzling public funds and using them for election-related bribery. On the 17th, the Changhua District Prosecutors Office conducted searches and petitioned for the pre-trial detention of five individuals, including Hsieh Dian-lin, his father Hsieh Hsin-lung, his mother Cheng Ju-fen, service office director Liu Chen-yu, and council legal affairs director Huang Yu-pin. That evening, the Changhua District Court ruled to detain Hsieh Dian-lin and Hsieh Hsin-lung without visitation rights.

The Hsieh family filed an appeal, but the Taichung High Court, after reviewing the case, ruled on the 24th to dismiss the appeal. The ruling is final and no further appeals are permitted, meaning the Hsieh父子 will spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in detention.

The Taichung High Court stated that the panel determined both defendants are strongly suspected of violating the Anti-Corruption Act by exploiting their official positions to defraud public funds. Given that the charges carry a minimum sentence of five years, and based on substantial evidence indicating risks of flight, evidence tampering, or collusion with accomplices and witnesses, the court concluded that less restrictive measures such as bail, release on recognizance, or house restrictions would be insufficient to ensure the integrity of the judicial process.

Therefore, the original decision to detain and prohibit communication was deemed legally sound, and the appeal was dismissed with finality.

The case originated from a public dinner hosted by the Changhua County Council in Xihu Township on June 23, which featured over ten tables of food for local residents. However, several 2026 Kuomintang (KMT) candidates attended wearing campaign vests, including Chen Chen-fei, Hsieh’s cousin and KMT candidate for Xihu Township mayor, sparking controversy.

After the raid, prosecutors brought back the five individuals for questioning. They allege that public funds were not only misused to finance the dinner as a form of vote-buying but also repeatedly siphoned off under false pretenses for personal use.

The defendants face charges under the Public Officials Election and Recall Act for vote-buying, the Anti-Corruption Act for fraud using official position, and Articles 216 and 213 of the Criminal Code for falsifying and using false official documents.

On the evening of the 17th, the Changhua District Court ordered the detention of Hsieh Dian-lin and Hsieh Hsin-lung, granted bail of NT$1 million to mother Cheng Ju-fen, and NT$300,000 bail to the other two individuals. The Hsieh父子 appealed the detention, but the appeal has now been definitively rejected.