An online commentator who claimed to receive threats for criticizing a government egg import program admitted on Tuesday to fabricating some of the messages with assistance from a friend who works for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Lin Yu-hong (林裕紘), who runs the Facebook page Lin Bay Hao You (Lin Bay 好油), early on Tuesday posted an apology for partially fabricating the situation, which opposition politicians have raised to suggest government involvement in threatening dissenters.
“Some of the threats were real, including pictures of guns and knives, but some of them I asked my friend Hsu Che-pin (許哲賓) to send to me,” he wrote on Facebook.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“I was not thoughtful enough to realize that his work at the KMT would lead to such turmoil and foolishness,” Lin added.
Opposition parties including the KMT largely used his evidence to implicate the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the egg scandal, as they have failed in their duties of oversight, he said.
This led to attacks from DPP supporters and mounting pressure as the person at the forefront of the storm, he said.
“Facing more pressure than I ever had before, I panicked and chose the wrong escape path,” he added.
In the post Lin also attached a photograph of his DPP membership card, saying he is not worthy to be a member and would resign.
Two weeks ago, Lin on an online show said that he had decided to stop posting on his page after receiving threatening messages for criticizing the government’s egg imports.
KMT legislators days later held a news conference accusing the DPP of involvement in sending the threats and failing to take action to address them.
At about 2am on Tuesday, the Taoyuan District Court granted a request from the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office to detain Hsu incommunicado, citing concerns that he could destroy evidence or collude with co-conspirators.
The court told reporters on Tuesday morning that Hsu had admitted to wrongdoing, but denied allegations of forgery.
Evidence including witness statements, phone conversations, laptop data and surveillance video are enough to suspect Hsu of forgery and threatening harm, it said.
The KMT in a morning meeting decided to terminate its employment relationship with Hsu, KMT Culture and Communications Committee head Lin Kuan-yu (林寬裕) said.
He was hired in 2021 and was responsible for putting together a daily news digest for the party’s policy division, Lin Kuan-yu said.
He was not responsible for handing KMT Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) inbox, as some media have reported, KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) said.
In a statement on Monday night, the KMT said it condemns all acts of fraud and supports the judicial process in holding proven wrongdoers accountable.
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