The Miaoli County Government yesterday announced that it would not appeal a court ruling in favor of the four families whose houses were forcefully demolished in Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔) last year.
The county government’s decision not to file an appeal before the Wednesday deadline follows that of the Ministry of the Interior, which said on Jan. 28 that it would not contest the verdict.
However, the families have said that they do plan to appeal the ruling.
Photo: Peng Chien-li, Taipei Times
“The Miaoli County Government has decided not to appeal the court’s decision out of respect for the Ministry of the Interior, which decided not to appeal right before the Lunar New Year holiday,” Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) said yesterday.
“However, I want to make it clear that the county government will not pay a penny to compensate the families, or help them rebuild their homes. It is impossible for us to compensate them with Miaoli taxpayers’ money, because that would be simply unacceptable,” Liu said.
Last month, the Greater Taichung High Administrative Court ruled that the ministry and county government’s complete or partial tearing down of the four homes last year was illegal because both had failed to complete the procedures required to approve forced demolitions.
However, when addressing the plaintiffs’ request that the county government return their land and rebuild their homes, the court said that such restitution may not be possible since roads and pedestrian crossings have already been constructed on some of the land where the houses once stood.
Despite welcoming the ministry’s decision not to contest the ruling, the Dapu families decided to lodge an appeal because they insist that the county government should help them rebuild their homes.
“We decided to appeal the ruling, because the part in the ruling that says it’s not possible to return the land to the families and rebuild their homes since roads and pedestrian crossings have been built is unacceptable,” said Thomas Chan (詹順貴), a pro bono attorney and rights activist representing the families.
“It’s not difficult to eliminate a pedestrian crossing and dig up the pavement to give the families their land back,” Chan said.
Responding to the families’ decision, Deputy Minister of the Interior Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家淇) said that the ministry fully respects their right to appeal and would await the court’s decision.
“Meanwhile, I would like to let the families know that the ministry will keep its doors open for negotiations if they should want to hold talks,” Hsiao said.
The ministry has also said that it would look into how to compensate the families.
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
RSS