Police have identified what they believe are most of the suspects who allegedly assaulted local residents and politicians during a protest aimed at stopping a developer from operating the Kunyu landfill site (坤輿掩埋場) in Miaoli County.
Thirteen suspects were held for questioning yesterday, while summonses were served to 59 people as part of a judicial probe.
Miaoli County prosecutors said most of them are suspected gang members hired by the landfill developer, Pacific Ecology Co, as its “private security force” to attack protesters on Thursday last week.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
A preliminary investigation, including video footage and eyewitness accounts, suggests that the developer hired most of the suspects from two companies — Grand Eagle Security Service Co in Miaoli County and CE Security Service Co in Kaohsiung, the prosecutors said.
Background checks revealed that the two security firms, although registered in different jurisdictions, are closely linked, as both belong to a husband and wife, who were among those summoned for questioning yesterday in connection with the incident, the prosecutors said.
Witnesses said the “private security force” initiated the attack, despite the presence of Miaoli County police units at the site.
People believed to be working for the company attacked the protesters with pepper spray and threw objects at them to force them to leave so as to open up the road and allow trucks loaded with trash to enter the landfill, witnesses said.
Many people were injured in the clashes, including eight who needed medical attention, reports said.
Among the injured were one police officer and several politicians who came to support the protesters, including Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰), independent Miaoli County Councilor Tseng Wen-hsueh (曾玟學) and DPP Miaoli County Councilor Chen Kuang-hsuan (陳光軒).
Prosecutors said they are considering charging the suspected perpetrators with assault, along with intimidation, illegal confinement and engaging in organized crime activities.
The husband-and-wife owners are facing charges of contravening the Private Security Service Act (保全業法), prosecutors said.
The attackers included temporary recruits at the two companies, as well as regular employees who called their “friends” — suspected gang members — as reinforcements, prosecutors said.
At a press conference in Taipei yesterday, Hung and Chen Ching-hsin (陳清鑫), leader of the local residents’ protest group, urged the Miaoli County Government not to appeal last week’s ruling by the High Administrative Court ordering a halt to the pre-operational use of the Kunyu landfill, which has not yet passed an environmental impact assessment.
Pacific Ecology has contravened the law since the start of the project, with local residents holding protests for about two decades, Chen said.
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