Media and show business personalities yesterday joined other protesters in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) to demand the resignation of Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), who had allegedly approved the use of illegal wiretaps.
Huang reportedly met with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 to discuss the alleged improper lobbying by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) of former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫), High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) and High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤) on behalf of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
Though an investigation into Wang’s actions had been closed without charges being filed and only administrative penalties have been suggested for him, the public and the DPP had been angered at what they called the “illegal grounds” of the division’s wiretapping of the phone lines of Wang, Ker and others.
Photo: CNA
Former TVBS vice president Ge Shu-ren (葛樹人) and actress Kuo Mei-chu (郭美珠) took part in the protest, along with the 929 protest event spokesperson Ryan Wu (吳睿穎) and others dressed in black — an allusion to police covert activities — to protest Huang’s allegations against Ker.
The SID initially responded to the protest by pulling down the metal doors that block off the hallway to its office, but after Kuo took off her shoes and started using them to hammer the door — an act that encouraged other protestors to try to manually raise the doors — the SID completely shut the door, while police officers formed a wall and started to push the protesters back.
Ge then calmed tensions by urging the protesters not to become irate over the matter and led the crowd in chanting slogans.
Ge said that he was against using personal influence for lobbying, but the crux of the issue lay not with Wang’s lobbying for Ker, but rather how the SIC handled its investigation.
The public cannot accept the division’s blatant wiretapping and infringement of rights, Ge said.
Ge also said that an anti-Ma protest scheduled for tomorrow would include a “wall” on which participants could vent their frustration.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS