A journalist for online news agency Newtalk went to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday to press charges against New Taipei City police in a bid to uphold freedom of the press, and to protest against police violence toward media workers.
News reporter Lin Yu-yo (林雨佑) was accompanied by Newtalk editor-in-chief Leon Chuang (莊豐嘉) as he filed suit against the police over incidents arising from media coverage of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Zhang Zijun’s (張志軍) visit to Taiwan in June.
“This lawsuit is to let the government’s operating apparatus know that freedom of the press is a cherished value. It must not be trampled under by police violence… We hope the lawsuit can deter police from using violent tactics against journalists in the future,” Lin said.
Photo: Chien Lee-chung, Taipei Times
Lin was sent to cover Zhang’s trip to an Aboriginal village in New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) on June 26.
Protesters and civic groups, led by the Black Island National Youth Front were there to block the road to the village and Lin was at the scene to report on the situation, as police moved in to remove protesters by force.
Lin said he showed his press badge to the police and was not interfering with the police actions as he videotaped officers rounding up and detaining protesters with plasticuffs.
“Then all of a sudden, several police officers came over and began to shove and physically assault me to prevent me from videotaping the scene. I showed them my press badge, but they continued to manhandle me, and were going to handcuff me as well,” he said.
“One commanding police officer yelled at me: ‘Who gave you the press credentials?’ Another said: ‘You have a press badge, so what? You and the protesters should all be rounded up.’ It was clear that the police were preventing journalists from reporting on what was going on, with the malicious intent to suppress press freedom,” Lin said.
“In recent years, we have seen the vigorous growth of civic society movement activities in Taiwan,” Chuang said. “The police should be more prudent in enforcing state authority.”
“However, we are seeing more police violence incidents against citizens. So we had little choice but to press charges against the police. We are doing this to urge the authorities to guarantee the protection of press freedom,” he said.
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,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS