Seven student leaders of the Sunflower movement and an academic voluntarily reported to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to submit to prosecutorial interviews yesterday.
Student leader Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and 25 other students had been informed that they had to go the Taipei Police Department at 4pm yesterday for questioning.
However, instead, seven of the movement’s leaders and Academia Sinica associate research law fellow Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) went to the District Prosecutors’ Office at 1:30pm yesterday asking to be questioned by prosecutors directly.
Photo: CNA
Lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and his legal team accompanied the group of eight: Huang Kuo-chang, Lin, Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), Dennis Wei (魏揚), Huang Yu-fen (黃郁芬), Chou Fu-i (周馥儀) and two other students.
“We have come to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office today to make known our position, which is that we will face any investigation honestly and fearlessly, determined to take responsibility for our actions,” Wei said in a statement on behalf of the students.
“Based on the principle of public disobedience, we students took substantial action to uphold the Constitution and our democracy, which are in peril. We will shoulder any due legal responsibility and will not seek to avoid any political, historical or social responsibility,” he added.
When the group arrived, the District Prosecutors’ Office sent eight prosecutors to conduct one-on-one interviews with them that lasted about 90 minutes.
“As the students’ attorney, I believe they are innocent,” Koo said, adding that the prosecutors said they might summon the seven again after reviewing the evidence gathered.
The students, who led the occupation of the Legislative Yuan on March 18 and reportedly also the storming of the Executive Yuan on March 23, face charges of obstructing an officer in the performance of their duties; destruction, abandonment and damage of property; and breaking and entering.
SOLIDARITY: A group of European lawmakers condemned China’s aggressive moves, while the foreign minister of Lithuania said Taiwan ‘cannot become a second Ukraine’ A German parliamentary delegation would visit Taiwan in the first week of October, German lawmaker Holger Becker on Monday told visiting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) at the Bundestag in Berlin. Asked by Fan whether he is worried about possible reprisals from Beijing, such as banning him and his family from entering China, Becker said he is more interested in visiting Taiwan, as “now is the time for democracies to stand together.” Fan and Lin also met with German officials to exchange views on digital education and governance. Investing in digital infrastructure and protecting equal rights to
As China waged extensive military exercises off Taiwan, a group of US defense experts in Washington was focused on their own simulation of an eventual — but for now entirely hypothetical — US-China war over the nation. The unofficial what-if game is being conducted on the fifth floor of an office building not far from the White House, and it posits a US military response to a Chinese invasion in 2026. Even though the participants bring a US perspective, they are finding that a US-Taiwan victory, if there is one, could come at a huge cost. “The results are showing that under
WRONG TIMING: The delegation’s trip has not only disappointed Taiwanese, but could send a wrong message to the global community, Tsai Ing-wen said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) yesterday left with a delegation for a trip to China, drawing fire for visiting at a time when Beijing has been conducting intensive military drills to pressure Taiwan. Before boarding, he told reporters that the delegation would be visiting Taiwanese communities and students in China, and possibly meet with Chinese officials. The Mainland Affairs Council on Tuesday night said that it was not the right time for political party members to visit China, as Beijing has been conducting military exercises since Thursday last week. President Tsai Ing- wen (蔡英文), chairperson of the Democratic
‘MILITARY PLAYBOOK’: It would have taken far longer for the PLA to put together the drills had they actually been in response to Nancy Pelosi’s visit, Joseph Wu said China is using military drills to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan, and its anger over US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit is just an excuse, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. Speaking in English at a news conference in Taipei, Wu accused China of “gross violations of international law.” “China has used the drills in its military playbook to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” he said. “It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.” He said the Chinese