"The judiciary is unfair,” hundreds of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters chanted yesterday as they held up placards in front of the Taipei Detention Center in Tucheng (土城), Taipei County, to protest against the arrest and detention of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
The protesters, led by the director of the Taipei branch of the DPP, Huang Chin-lin (黃慶林), condemned President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration and prosecutors for detaining Chen without legitimate reason and urged prosecutors to release him.
“We need fair procedure and a just judiciary,” Huang and the other protesters shouted outside the center.
Several DPP Taipei County councilors also led supporters to show their support for Chen. More than 500 police were dispatched to the site to prevent violent clashes.
The court detained Chen on Tuesday after a six-month investigation into graft allegations against the former president. Chen has denied any wrongdoing.
Huang yesterday said the DPP would hold a large “evening party” at Taipei’s Yuanshan Park (圓山公園) next Saturday in support of Chen, adding that the demonstration would proceed even though the Taipei City Government had refused to grant the party a permit.
In response, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday that the city government would grant rally permits to any organization that applied using the proper procedures.
Taipei City’s Parks and Street Lights Office said it had granted the DPP a permit to use the park.
Hung Sheng-kun, commissioner of Taipei City’s Police Department, said the department would grant the DPP a rally permit as long as it followed the regulations.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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