The Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by former premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), upholding a decision made by the Taiwan High Court in February asking the Taipei District Court to reconsider an attempted murder charge against Jiang over the government’s forced eviction of Sunflower movement activists from the Executive Yuan compound in Taipei last year.
Chou Jung-tsung (周榮宗), a 76-year-old activist who died last month, filed the charge against a number of officials, including Jiang, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), then-National Police Agency director-general Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) and other high-ranking law enforcement officials.
Chou said earlier last year that he sustained fractured ribs and other injuries when he was assaulted by police officers with a shield and later blasted by water cannons.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The protests at the Executive Yuan were part of the Sunflower movement, in which protesters occupied the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber in protest against the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade agreement.
On the night of March 23 last year, student-led protesters forced their way past barricades to stage a sit-in at the Executive Yuan. Jiang authorized a crackdown in the early morning of March 24, resulting in scores of protesters reporting injuries they said were caused by officers using batons, shields and water cannons.
Chou filed the attempted murder charge with the Taipei District Court, which issued a provisional disposition ordering the police to keep for litigation video recordings, duty rosters and other documents related to the Executive Yuan eviction.
After reviewing Chou’s written statements, the district court rejected the charge in January, referring to improper procedural handling on the part of the plaintiff and ruling that Jiang and Wang did not overstep their authority by ordering the eviction of protesters, adding that Chou did not enlist any witnesses or present incriminating evidence.
However, the High Court ruled that the district court’s decision was at odds with the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) by focusing on the procedural aspects of the case without conducting substantial investigations into each of Chou’s allegations. The High Court thereby remitted the case back to the district court.
Jiang appealed the High Court’s ruling to the Supreme Court, which upheld the High Court’s decision and remanded the case to the Taipei District Court.
Chou’s was the first of about 50 lawsuits filed by protesters.
Chou’s daughter took over his lawsuit after his death, she said.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
RSS