Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Neil Peng (馮光遠) began a 20-day jail term yesterday, after he was sentenced for calling former Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) “a scum public servant” and, in protest, declined to pay a fine.
Escorted by a crowd of supporters and friends and with a smile on his face, the screenwriter and author reported to an annex office of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office before he was handcuffed and sent to a correctional facility to serve his time.
“Since 1989, I have been a political commentator, and I had never been sued for my critiques of officials until 2008, when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) took office,” Peng told reporters before entering the prosecutors’ office.
Photo courtesy of Neil Peng’s campaign office
“Obviously, these people are trying to silence voices of opposition through legal maneuvers, but I want to tell them that Taiwan’s democracy will not be so easily repressed,” he added.
Peng was sued by Sheng in 2012 over an article criticizing the then-Council for Cultural Affairs minister as a “scum public servant” after Sheng refused to publicize detailed budget information for a government-sponsored musical performance that cost NT$230 million (US$7.55 million at current exchange rates) of the taxpayers’ money in just two nights.
Although Peng could have avoided serving jail time by paying a fine, he declined to do so, saying that he would rather be behind bars than pay the government, as he did not think he had done anything wrong.
He said that he has the right to describe an official as “scum” given Sheng’s actions and added that it is ridiculous that a citizen should be jailed for criticizing an official who had “performed poorly.”
“Compared to Cheng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), who self-immolated [in 1989] for the freedom of speech, the 20-day prison time is really nothing,” he said.
Yen Ming-wei (顏銘緯), a political activist and friend of Peng who gained notoriety after throwing a book at Ma in protest last week, gave six books — including one entitled Wish You Were Here — to Peng to read while detained.
“I am sure I will have a lot of time to read in prison,” Peng said while looking at the books. “However, I would like to tell Sheng: ‘I wish you were here.’”
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS