The Supreme Court yesterday ordered the retrial of eight Sunflower movement figures sentenced last year to two to four years in prison over their roles in the occupation of the Executive Yuan in 2014.
In remanding the case to the High Court, the Supreme Court said that the defendants were exercising “civil disobedience” and should receive more lenient sentences.
The High Court in April last year sentenced the Sunflower movement figures, including Dennis Wei (魏揚), for inciting others to commit crimes related to the occupation of the Executive Yuan complex during the 23-day protest.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The defendants appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
In its ruling yesterday, the court revoked the guilty verdicts and ordered a retrial, based on the argument that the defendants were exercising their “right of resistance” or “civil disobedience” as part of their right to freedom of expression.
The “right of resistance” is used to protect and restore a democratic constitutional order, and is legal and legitimate under the Constitution, the court said.
Although the Constitution does not explicitly stipulate the “right to resistance,” it should still be recognized based on the constitutional principles under popular sovereignty, it said.
Therefore, behavior that exercises the “right of resistance” can be used to defeat or mitigate the legal consequences of what might otherwise be unlawful conduct, it said.
The court can apply these rules related to behavior under extenuating circumstances, such as cases of self-defense, to reduce a defendant’s sentence or overrule any unlawful conduct, it added.
The court ruling also said that the High Court did not look into the reason for the defendants’ behavior, nor did it thoroughly investigate and explain if that behavior constituted the crime of inciting others to commit crimes.
The Sunflower movement was a protest against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s handling of a trade in services agreement with China. It began after then-KMT legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) rushed through the agreement without debate on March 17, 2014.
During almost 23 days of protests from March 18 to April 10, hundreds of people broke into the Legislative Yuan, while thousands demonstrated outside the complex.
One group, which included the eight defendants, attempted to occupy the nearby Executive Yuan on March 23, but were forcibly removed by police during the early hours of March 24.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted them in 2015 for inciting others to commit crimes, obstructing officials in carrying out their duties and damaging government property.
During the first trial, the Taipei District Court found them all not guilty. Prosecutors later appealed to the High Court, which overturned the initial verdicts.
‘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
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
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
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