The arrest of three journalists on Thursday for entering the Ministry of Education building to cover a protest over proposed adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines could muzzle the freedom of the press, one of those arrested said yesterday.
Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) photographer Liao Chen-huei (廖振輝), Coolloud Collective reporter Sung Hsiao-hai (宋小海) and freelance journalist Lin Yu-yo (林雨佑) were among 33 people detained by police for entering the building on Thursday night. The journalists were put under house arrest after each refused to post bail of NT$10,000 on Friday.
“I saw students breaking into [the ministry’s headquarters], and I instinctively thought that it might be a repetition of the Sunflower movement,” Liao said. “As a reporter, how could I not follow them to witness a historic moment?”
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The Sunflower movement was a 23-day student-led protest during which protesters occupied the main legislative chamber last year. The protest was over what critics called the government’s opaque handling of a service trade agreement with China.
Liao said he was at the site to cover protests in front of the building on Thursday night, adding that he followed protesters who entered the building, photographing events as they unfolded, including the initial arrests.
An officer tried to persuade him and the other two journalists to keep away while officers were making the arrests, Liao said.
However, they were allowed to remain until an officer, seemingly the commander on the scene, told them that the police had to arrest and detain students and reporters alike because the ministry insisted on filing charges against all intruders, Liao said, adding that the three journalists were not allowed to access their cellphones or laptops.
The police confiscated Liao’s cellphone, and his request to call the Liberty Times office to say he was safe was denied by police, who told Liao that they had to ask a supervisor for permission.
Liao said he did not know whether the officers had relayed his request, adding that he was not allowed to make any calls during the first few hours of his detention.
Liao asked why they were being treated like criminals when reporters were allowed into the Legislative Yuan during the Sunflower protests.
Police violence against reporters could easily lead to a chilling conclusion, he said.
Asked if he would cover protesters breaking into restricted sites again, despite spending a day in custody and facing a legal battle, Liao said: “I would definitely follow [protesters] and go where they go.”
“We need more reporters [at such occurences] so the government does not dare abuse its power and infringe on the freedom of the press,” he said.
Sung said that after being arrested, the three journalists were kept in the ministry’s lobby, with SWAT officers standing guard.
“I asked an officer: If we are being arrested, could we contact lawyers? However, the officer said he had to ask his supervisor,” Sung said. “We waited for more than an hour before someone said that the ministry would be pressing charges. However, when we were transferred to police headquarters at about 2am, the police said they had to make sure the ministry really wanted to take legal action.”
Lin said that when he was taking pictures before being arrested, officers tried to prevent him from doing so by covering his camera and threatening to arrest him for obstructing officers of the law.
“If the police were acting according to the law, why were they so afraid of journalists and protesters recording everything? What is the legal basis for the police to stop journalists and protesters from taking pictures?” Lin said.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS