Saying she had not violated the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) because she was merely passing by, Lina added that she was originally walking on the road with a friend when they saw the third woman, who was also wearing flags, so they decided to walk together.
“A group of police began to gather and push us … More and more police came and my flag was ripped from my hands and my finger was pulled,” she said. “Like protesters in the US, we had body painting and elaborate masks on … We want to voice our concern for Taiwan’s already diminishing freedom of speech, as well as China’s neglect of human rights — our pursuit is for peace.”
After they were arrested, Lina used her cellphone to get on real-time online journal Plurk.com to ask for help, spurring fellow bloggers to summon a lawyer who came to her rescue.
“This is the first time that a protester has been injured by the police for activities like this. It is not illegal in Taiwan for one to wave flags … The police completely refused to offer any explanation as to what crime my client had committed,” said Vincent Lin (林育辰), Lina’s lawyer.
“[What’s more], the police kept following them and saying that they were there to ‘protect’ the women … Soon we will have no right to privacy,” a blogger named “Hans” said on Plurk.com.
DPP caucus deputy whip Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) said yesterday that it was unreasonable for the government to spend NT$ 700 million (US$21.2 million) on security measures for Chen. It had turned Taiwan into a police state and returned it to the period of martial law, he said.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said the government had no choice but to tighten security measures to protect Chen because of the DPP’s planned protest.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), head of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, also defended the government’s measures.
“If Chen were attacked or assaulted in Taipei, Taiwan would make international headlines as a violent country. To prevent Taiwan from losing face, we had no choice but to raise security levels for him,” Lin said.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday that the government was duty bound to respect and protect legal assemblies, but that such activities must be conducted in a peaceful and legal manner.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG, KO SHU-LING AND AGENCIES
Also See: EDITORIAL:Fear and loathing in Taipei
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