Legislators and members of the public criticized prosecutors for dropping the charges against 12 military officials in a case which raised fears of a return to Martial Law era authoritarianism and abuse of people’s rights, while the Ministry of National Defense said it respected the judiciary’s decision.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said yesterday that he very much regretted that prosecutors did not bring charges against the 12 military officials for their roles in a search in February at a civilian’s home for documents relating to White Terror era prosecution cases, as they did so at a residence belonging to a man in New Taipei City without obtaining a search warrant.
On Monday, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office announced that the man, surnamed Wei (魏), had agreed to the search by military police officers and had signed a “consent” form, and that video evidence indicated that Wei had behaved in a natural way and did not seem to be coerced or put under any pressure.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
However, the statement did reprimand the military police and the Military Security Brigade for allocating excessive resources to the search at a civilian’s house and for a number of transgressions of the proper procedures.
“We have military police officers entering a civilian’s house to look for some stuff, but they did so without a search warrant. In a democratic nation, this cannot be tolerated. As for the statement by prosecutors, they are not even trying to uphold the rights of ordinary citizens,” Wang said.
Wang said he would continue to press for further investigation of the case as he does not want to see it swept under the carpet.
The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee has approved a resolution to set up an ad hoc task force to access materials and documents pertaining to the case, he said.
Other members of the committee also expressed their concern and indignation over the charges being dropped.
New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said he respected the judiciary’s decision, “but the outcome does not mean there was nothing wrong with human rights education in the military. The controversy arose from the gross abuse of the rights of citizens, and the claim by military officials that the man in question willingly gave his consent for the search.”
DPP Legislator Lu Sun-ling (呂孫綾) said the case has caused people to have anxiety about a return of White Terror era authoritarianism.
“We want to see the ministry stamp out these kind of activities, it must not be allowed to happen again,” Lu said.
The ministry released a statement on Monday saying it respected the decision not to bring charges and that it had requested the military agencies involved to review and rectify their handling of such cases, since some aspects of the case have been questioned.
Wei said he was dismayed by the prosecutors’ decision and disagreed with the assessment that he voluntarily agreed to have his house searched by the military police.
“I was scared to death at the time. Can I refuse to sign the consent form? I did not think it was possible,” Wei said. “I am just an ordinary person from the countryside, who does not know much about legal matters. How could I express my opinion at the time? What could I do?”
“Even when the police come to undertake an investigation it is a big deal for most people. In this case, the military police officers accused me of violating the law on national security. Anyone in my position would be nervous and highly stressed. How could I refuse their request at the time?” he said.
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