The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday announced the indictment of five anti-curriculum changes activists — Chen Po-yu (陳柏瑜), Yen Hsiao-ho (閻孝和), Peng Cheng (彭宬), Yin Juo-yu (尹若宇) and Tsai Ming-ying (蔡明穎) — on charges of obstruction of justice and coercion.
The office said that it has referred two adolescents, surnamed Chang (張) and Lin (林), to a juvenile court, and that it would not file charges against 22 remaining activists being investigated for breaking into and occupying the Ministry of Education compound, due to the ministry’s withdrawal of charges, insufficient evidence and the death of one defendant.
According to the indictment, on the night of July 23, Tsai allegedly shoved a security guard surnamed Hsieh (謝), who was attempting to close the compound’s front door on the incoming protesters, and as Hsieh turned to confront Tsai, Peng allegedly grabbed him, while Yin allegedly bear-hugged Hsieh from behind, causing contusions to the guard’s chest.
Photos: Taipei Times
Chen allegedly dragged away a security guard on the second floor of the ministry, surnamed Hsu (許), who was blocking Lin, resulting in protesters entering Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa’s (吳思華) office, the indictment said.
Prosecutors further alleged that Yen, in order to facilitate the entry of protesters into Wu’s office, held Hsu down, slightly spraining the fingers on Hsu’s left hand.
Yen, an anthropology student at the National Taiwan University, said that he fully anticipated legal action against him before participating in the occupation of the ministry, adding: “We were exercising our right to resistance and to civil disobedience.”
Anti-Curriculum Changes Alliance spokesperson Wang Pin-chen (王品蓁) said that although the alliance would respect the court’s verdict, it hopes that “the judicial system will treat all people equally, and will not apply one standard to students, and another standard to officials.”
“We maintain that we simply fought for our rights and did what was right. Our actions were within appropriate bounds,” Wang said.
“If the justice [system] wants to apply the most exacting standard on students, then the same standards must also be applied to the education establishment,” Wang said.
“The Ministry of Education was at fault from the beginning, and should not try to squeeze through legal loopholes,” he added.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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