Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday asked for leniency toward protesters from Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪), who previously said members of the Sunflower movement who broke the law during action over the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade agreement will not be treated differently from other lawbreakers.
During a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee yesterday, DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the student-led Sunflower movement represents a constitutional issue and the protesters’ actions were based on the principle of civil disobedience.
“The protests are against injustice by the government and the public should be not punished according to the criminal code,” Ker said.
“My position is clear and has never changed — prosecutors must handle the case according to the law,” Luo said in reponse.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said Taipei police officers asked National Taiwan University Hospital to provide medical records of people who checked in to the hospital’s emergency unit following the eviction of protesters who broke into the Executive Yuan building on March 24.
Prosecutors and police officers infringed upon protesters’ human rights by examining their personal information, Yu said.
In response, Luo asked: “Is it wrong for law enforcement officers to establish the truth by collecting and studying evidence?”
Separately yesterday, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), in response to media queries about the issue of student protesters facing criminal charges, said his heart aches for the students.
“The students’ actions are for the country and society, they are not doing this for themselves. What criminal offenses have they committed?” Lee said on the sidelines of an appearance at the Taiwan High Court to defend himself in a case in which he is accused of having embezzled state funds.
“The protesters have made a great contribution to the nation’s progress. The government does not listen to the people, so their actions brought Taiwan’s democratization to a new level,” he added.
The student-led protesters, who have occupied the legislative chamber since March 18 in protest against the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade agreement, announced on Monday night that they would withdraw from the chamber today at 6pm.
The Taipei Police Department said yesterday that it planned to deploy 1,600 police officers to deal with the withdrawal today, as well as to protect the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan complex and other government agencies in the area.
If there are protesters who refuse to leave the legislative chamber, the police will urge them to leave and they do not rule out carrying them away if they refuse to go, the police authority said.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS