The Taipei District Court yesterday released student activist Dennis Wei (魏揚) without bail, after prosecutors accused him of having led a protest that escalated into the storming of the Executive Yuan building in Taipei on Sunday night.
Wei, a graduate student at National Tsing Hua University’s Institute of Sociology, walked out of the courtroom at 12:20pm to the cheers of his family and supporters, before tearfully hugging his mother.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Wei has been charged with violating Article 150 of the Criminal Code — inciting people in an open assembly to employ threats or violence — which could see him face between one and seven years in prison if found guilty.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
He was also charged with obstructing an officer in the performance of their duties; destruction, abandonment and damage of property; breaking and entering; and with violating the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法), among other counts, the office said.
According to the district court’s ruling, Wei posted a message on Facebook at 9pm on Sunday calling for students to join the occupation of the Executive Yuan — two hours after the siege had begun — which indicated that he did not play a leading role in inciting protesters to occupy the complex.
The ruling added that several students arrested and under investigation have said in their statements that Wei’s posting did not incite them to storm the Executive Yuan.
Video footage shows Wei speaking to protesters on a microphone during the siege, but the court ruled that his presence at the site does not prove that he broke into the complex and damaged property.
Wei said in a statement yesterday that he did not mastermind the occupation of the Executive Yuan.
“I arrived in Taipei from Hsinchu City by bus at about 8pm and was preparing to go back to the Legislative Yuan sit-in, but upon learning on Facebook that the Executive Yuan had been occupied by students, I decided to go to the Executive Yuan and arrived there after 8pm,” the statement said.
Wei said he asked the other students if he could him help lead the protest, while urging the protesters to remain calm and not break into any offices.
Turning to Premier Jiang Yi-huah’s (江宜樺) remarks that police only “carried protesters away or tapped them on the shoulder and asked them to leave,” Wei said he saw officers attack protesters with sticks and shields.
“Any bloodshed that took place during the violent eviction must be taken up with the officer in charge of the operation and with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九),” he added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS