Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) yesterday criticized the government and police, saying there was serious encroachment of personal freedom and freedom of the press as police led “violent arrests of students and reporters” after protesters stormed the Ministry of Education building in Taipei late on Thursday.
DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) demanded Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa’s (吳思華) resignation, saying the ministry had overseen “unprecedented violations of freedom of the press.”
Police arrested 33 people after a group stormed the building in protest over adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines — which critics say were decided on in a “black box” procedure — and ministry officials who continue to ignore requests for dialogue.
Three reporters were among those arrested, including Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) photojournalist Liao Chen-huei (廖振輝), who was among the first to arrive after the protesters stormed the building.
While he was taking photographs, he was told by officers that he was to be arrested.
Another reporter, who works for Coolloud Collective (苦勞網) — an online platform dedicated to social activism — was also detained.
Huang said police intervention over the actions of the reporters had no legal basis.
“The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government intervention to guarantee the autonomy and independence of the media’s role in supervising the government. Restricting reporters’ personal freedom is an attempt to cover up the truth and has seriously violated freedom of the press and obstructed the development of a democratic society,” Huang said.
Press freedom has deteriorated during the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) according to a Freedom House ranking, Huang said, adding that police had deployed disproportionate force to “evict the media” on March 23 last year during the Sunflower movement, drawing criticism from the International Federation of Journalists.
“The arrests of journalists on Thursday on the pretext of a lack of invitation from the ministry was a flagrant abuse of freedom of the press,” he said.
“The violent treatment by police, the handcuffing of unarmed students and the confiscation of cellphones, and the arrests of the journalists while prohibiting them from using recording equipment was unconstitutional,” Huang added.
“Where should reporters go if not where the news is happening?” Cheng asked.
Police told Cheng that the reporters were under investigation because the ministry has taken legal action against them.
One reporter said he was knocked on the back of the head by police, despite identifying himself as a member of the press.
The Liberty Times Union yesterday also lashed out at the ministry, denouncing its “taking reporters as criminal suspects.”
“The Zhongzeng First Precinct confiscated the reporters’ communication devices, detained them in the building and transported them to a mobile police department for prosecutors to investigate further, a process that assumed the reporters were suspects,” the union said.
“The union severely condemns the action, which is a suspected breach of constitutional rights and an offense against personal freedom. The action has seriously trampled upon freedom of the press,” it said in a statement, calling on the central government and local administrations to revisit standard operating procedures for dealing with social activism.
The Association of Taiwan Journalists said prohibiting reporters from using mobile phones and filing news stories was a serious breach of press freedom and human rights.
“We do not accept the actions of the Taipei Police Department, who passed the buck to the ministry and prosecutors after making the arrests of journalists, even after the reporters had clearly identified themselves,” the association said, adding that it would offer assistance to any of the affected journalists who want to take legal action.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and 13 local governments across the nation affiliated with the party issued a joint statement urging the ministry to not implement the curriculum guidelines as planned, withdraw lawsuits against student protesters and apologize to the public over the issue.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS