The acrimonious fight over the election-eve shooting of the president and vice president again reared its head yesterday, as family members of the man police said was behind the shooting retracted their previous statements, claiming police intimidation.
After a lengthy investigation, Chen Yi-hsiung (
The family of Chen had previously said he carried out the shooting because he was depressed about being unemployed and blamed the president's policies.
PHOTO: LU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
They now say they were coerced into making these claims.
"We had no choice but to say what the police wanted us to say when we were questioned again and again, until they were satisfied with our answers," the family said in a statement, asking the police to make public the interrogation records.
Different story
About a year ago, Chen's wife Lee Shu-chiang (
Yesterday, however, Lee and three of her children denied their previous claims in a press conference in the legislature, saying that Chen was not the shooter, that he was falsely accused and that he had been murdered.
Police and prosecutors scoffed at what the family claimed was new evidence.
"It is not new at all," Lin Teh-hua (
"We have 11 witnesses who identified the man in the photo as Chen Yi-hsiung," he said.
Lee said that she was asked by Hou You-yi (
"Hou said that I would have to accept the consequences if I didn't say [what they wanted]. In order to protect my children, I read what they wanted me to read and apologized," Lee said.
Rebuttal
Later in the day, Hou, who is now the director-general of the National Police Agency, held a press conference to rebut the accusation.
"All the evidence we used to establish Chen's guilt was obtained from the investigation. We didn't fake anything and we didn't force any confessions," Hou said.
Hou said that he could understand why Chen's family might have had a hard time accepting that Chen was the shooter.
On March 7 last year, Chen was identified after the police traced people who had made purchases from an arms maker. They narrowed down their search to a bald man in a yellow jacket, who was taped standing in the "hot zone" at the crime scene.
The Supreme Prosecutors Office then announced on Aug. 17 that the investigation of the 319 shooting was closed. They concluded that Chen, whom the prosecutors believe committed suicide, was entirely responsible for the shooting.
However, opposition parties have highlighted some aspects of the case -- such as the weapon not being found, Chen's body being found in a fishing net and the family's claim to having destroyed a suicide note -- to cast doubt on Chen's guilt.
"The `yellow coated bald guy' was not my father," Chen's daughter said.
She added, "[The police] told me that I would be sentenced to seven years in prison if I didn't make the confession [they wanted]."
No new evidence
Still, the Tainan Prosecutors' Office said it was unlikely to reopen the case without new evidence.
Lin said he suspected political motives were behind the family's move, which coincided with an opposition rally and came a week before the anniversary of the shooting.
"We hope the Chen family was not used by some people with ulterior motives," he said.
Meanwhile, former TSU lawmaker -- now a member of the KMT -- Su Ying-kuei (蘇盈貴) accused the police of faking the videotape of the shooter. He displayed another photo to back his argument.
"Although there was a time lag of 17 seconds between the two photos, it is unreasonable that the crime scene of the videotape contained just a few people, while the photo I had was jam-packed with people," Su said.
Vice President Annette Lu (
also see story:
Pan-blue big guns attend KMT rally
‘UNFRIENDLY’: Changing the nationality listing of Taiwanese residents to ‘China’ goes against EU foreign policy as well as democratic and human rights principles, MOFA said Taiwan yesterday called on Denmark to correct its designation of the nationality of Taiwanese residents as “China” or face retaliatory measures. The Danish government in 2024 changed the nationality of Taiwanese citizens on their residence permits from “Taiwan” to “China.” The decision goes against EU foreign policy and contravenes democratic and human rights principles, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said. Denmark should present a solution acceptable to Taiwan as soon as possible and correct the erroneous designation to preserve the longstanding friendship between the two nations, Hsiao said. The issue could damage Denmark’s image and business reputation in Taiwan,
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
RSS