The Judicial Reform Foundation yesterday announced plans to file lawsuits for national compensation against government leaders over the violent crackdown on demonstrators who occupied the Executive Yuan from Sunday evening to early Monday morning.
It called on people injured by the police to join the action.
“We understand that there is always a risk when demonstrators take to the streets, but it is intolerable that the government tells lies about the police using violence against demonstrators,” foundation executive director Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) told a news conference outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“We hereby call on more people who were attacked by police during the dispersal of the protesters occupying the Executive Yuan to contact us,” the attorney said.
Kao said during the violent crackdown that began early on Monday morning, lawyers affiliated with the foundation, both at the scene and at several hospitals, assisted peaceful demonstrators who suffered varying degrees of injuries after being attacked by police.
However, in a news conference on Monday after the forced eviction of protesters, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said that police officers had not used violence, but merely tapped protesters on the shoulders and asked them to leave or gently moved those who would not walk away.
“So far, 42 people who were beaten by police have agreed to join us in filing lawsuits for national compensation against government officials, and we would like to urge more victims to contact us and join the action,” Kao said.
Attorney Greg Yo (尤伯祥) said that the foundation plans to file lawsuits against National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞), the premier and, possibly, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
“The truth is not complete without hearing the voices of the victims, and without the complete truth being heard, the same mistakes will be repeated,” Yu said.
Separately, the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee passed a motion to establish a task force to launch an investigation into the police’s removal of the protesters from the Executive Yuan.
The task force is to be made up of some members of the committee, along with experts and student representatives, and is to update the committee on the investigation parameters within 10 days.
The operational principles of the removal, CCTV footage and Wang and Jiang’s telephone records from Sunday are expected to be part of the investigation.
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS