A scuffle broke out between supporters of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) and police yesterday when a crowd gathered outside the Taipei District Court to protest the continued detention of the former president.
Chen yesterday attended a hearing on whether his detention should be continued.
Near the end of the hearing, some of the supporters who had been watching the court proceedings shouted and stood up to get a better look at the former president, who appeared weak and ill.
Bailiffs asked the supporters to sit down and remain quiet, but to no avail.
Chen’s supporters heckled Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓), shouting: “You should have a conscience!”
A couple of the supporters were then escorted out by bailiffs.
Outside the courthouse, demonstrators wearing green baseball caps and shirts with “Bian support union” written on them protested the court’s continued detention of the former leader.
Shouting phrases such as “Tsai Shou-hsun is a judicial executioner” and “Tsai Shou-hsun wants him dead,” dozens of the protesters surrounded the Taipei District Court.
They carried signs that said: “Everyone is equal before the law,” “Justice is not served, human rights is dead” and “Release A-bian, hold fair trials.”
After Chen’s hearing ended at 11:10am, those who had been in court walked out to join the rest of the demonstrators.
A line of police carrying shields stood between demonstrators and the courthouse.
Some demonstrators and members of the police argued and shouted profanities at each other, while small clusters of demonstrators and police shoved each other around the courthouse.
The demonstration settled down after about an hour with no injuries reported.
When former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) appeared at court in the afternoon in a trial involving alleged kickbacks in a government land deal, she said she was very concerned about Chen’s health.
“He has symptoms of heart disease,” she told reporters. “I hope the judge will release him.”
Chen has been detained for a total of more than five months on corruption and embezzlement charges.
He has denied the accusations, saying the trials are politically motivated and that his detention is a violation of human rights.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai