Police arrest man for sending threats to the president

Police arrested a young man in Kaohsiung yesterday on suspicion of sending two e-mails to the Presidential Office containing threats against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

"The suspect, surnamed Hsu, 24, admitted he sent two e-mails to the Presidential Office on Friday," Huang Wen-tsun (黃文圳), an official from the Criminal Police Bureau (CPB), told a press conference in Kaohsiung yesterday afternoon.

Huang said Hsu, who referred to himself as "the Black Killer" in the e-mails, had threatened to shoot the president, kidnap his grandsons and sexually assault his daughter.

He said Hsu told investigators he was not a member of any political party and that he had sent the e-mails after losing control of his emotions.

Huang said Hsu has a disability certificate indicating a mental disability.

Hsu's e-mails were the fourth threat made against members of the first family within the course of a week.

The three other threats targeted the president's daughter, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), his son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) and the president.

He said Hsu's older brother was also arrested, but was soon released as investigators decided he had not been involved in the threats.

The CPB identified the suspect by his computer's IP address. Hsu used his home computer to send the e-mails, Huang said.

The police raided the suspect's home yesterday morning, seizing his computer and other items.

Huang said Hsu's computer showed he had logged onto the Presidential Office's Web site on Friday and sent the two e-mails from the same computer.

Hsu will be charged with obstruction of safety by threat (恐嚇危害安全罪), Huang said.

The president yesterday said he was thankful the police had located the person responsible for the threats because it proved he was not staging the threats to manipulate public opinion.

"Let's applaud [National Police Agency] Director Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and all the police. With his excellent leadership, the case was solved within 24 hours," the president said. "Some people accused me of staging the whole thing, but actually the other party was playing tricks."

He made the remarks while campaigning for Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers in Kaohsiung.

Earlier yesterday, when attending an alumni reunion for National Tainan First Senior High School in Taipei, the president said he would not have made the threats public if his grandson had not been targeted.

"I received about 10 to 20 threats in a day last year during the red-clad [anti-Chen] protests. I never said anything," he said, referring to the campaign demanding his resignation last year amid allegations of corruption.

"Taiwan is a pluralistic, democratic society. It's the public's right to express their dissent, but they should do it in a peaceful way," he said.