Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), leaders of the ongoing student movement against the cross-strait service trade agreement, may face legal action for their involvement in the occupation by hundreds of students of the Legislative Yuan.
Local media reported yesterday that Lin and Chen have been referred by the police to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for investigation on five charges: trespassing, interference with public functions, destruction of property, infringing on personal liberty and contempt of authority.
However, the office dismissed the report, saying that the pair had been accused by four anonymous individuals, not referred by the police.
Photo: Lam Yik Fei, Bloomberg
“The charges against the pair are being investigated,” the office said, adding that there were other people who had also filed lawsuits against the student activists and that their accusations would be handled according to the law.
As to when and whether Lin and Chen would be summoned for questioning, the office said: “The prosecutors responsible for the cases will make the decisions based on the progress of their investigations.”
However, sources familiar with the matter told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that the office planned to question the pair after the Sunflower movement died down to avoid exciting the protesters inside and outside the Legislative Yuan.
So far, 43 people, including Lin and Chen, face legal action over their participation in the occupation of the legislature and the brief seizure of the Executive Yuan on Sunday last week, the sources said.
Lin and Chen said yesterday that they would take responsibility for their actions, but insisted that they are not guilty of any crimes.
“What we are doing is not illegal at all,” Chen told journalists in the legislative chamber. “But if prosecutors want to take any legal action against us, we will face it, shoulder it together and not try to dodge it.”
In related developments, an online petition launched on Tuesday by a group of 38 law professors that urges the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to investigate the government’s forced eviction of protesters from the Executive Yuan on Monday last week has attracted about 950 signatures.
The signatories include National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Law dean Shieh Ming-yan (謝銘洋), Fu Jen Catholic University School of Law dean Chang Yie-yun (張懿云) and National Taipei University Department of Law director Lin Kuo-bin (林國彬).
The petition makes three major demands: that prosecutors uncover the truth of what happened during the forced eviction of students; that all relevant evidence be carefully protected, including video footage from surveillance cameras around the Executive Yuan and the telephone records of senior government officials; and that prosecutors ascertain whether riot police attacked unarmed protesters with batons or overstepped their powers when trying to disperse them.
Riot police were caught on camera using force and water cannons to remove protesters from the Executive Yuan.
About 110 people were injured during the eviction process, including police officers and a lawmaker.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin and Yang Kuo-wen
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from
RSS