The findings of a Taipei City Government investigation into the July 23 storming of the Ministry of Education (MOE) compound by high-school student protesters were released yesterday, with the report appearing to show that the Ministry of Education and the Taipei City Police Department had predicted the action and prepared a coordinated response.
A group of high-school student protesters entered the ministry building on the evening of July 23 during a demonstration against the ministry’s planned adjustments to curriculum guidelines.
Thirty-three people — including 24 students and three reporters — were arrested during the incident.
The report showed that the ministry and the Taipei City Police Department agreed during a meeting on July 11 that the ministry would press charges against any protesters who broke the law, thus granting the police the necessary legal basis to detain any demonstrators thought to have committed crimes.
If protesters occupied the building during office hours, the ministry would hear the students’ demands and open negotiations aimed at getting protesters to leave, but would resort to forced removals if no agreement could be reached, the report cited meeting records as saying.
Any attempt by protesters to occupy the ministry compund outside of work hours would be seen as malicious and the police would be asked to enforce the law, the report showed.
While the reporters have said that they were just doing their jobs, the report cited the police as saying that the journalists failed to obtain permission from the ministry to be on the premises and had also not given their details to the building’s guards.
The report did not criticize the police department and concluded only by suggesting that the department look into its decisionmaking process and try not to respond emotionally to rapidly evolving protest situations.
Although National Police Agency regulations state that restraints should only be used if the safety of law enforcement personnel is at risk, the report only mildly chided the police department’s use of restraints on protesters.
In response to media queries, the Taipei City Police Department said that it had not yet seen the report and could not comment on specific details, but said it would strive to deal with such incidents better in the future.
The ministry is determined to have a forgiving attitude toward any of the protesters’ criminal acts, in contrast with the police department’s rigid adherence to rules, Ministry of Education Secretary-General Wang Chun-chuan (王俊權) said, adding that it was not until the students invaded the minister of education’s office that the situation became complicated.
Taipei City Council caucus convener Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), of the Democratic Progressive Party, said the report contained exactly the same information as one presented by the Taipei City Police Department a month ago, which caused the caucus to condemn the behavior of the police.
Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) statement that “Whoever gave the order will be responsible [for the incident],” indicates impropriety in enforcing of the law, Wu said, adding that her caucus would ask Ko to present a report on the matter at a caucus meeting on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Ko yesterday said that the truth must be established before punitive measures are taken, adding that such measures are only necessary if they improve the efficiency of the city’s judicial system.
Ko’s remark alluded to information in the report that Zhongzheng First Precinct Deputy Director Chang Chi-wen (張奇文) had failed to tell reporters of the possibility of legal proceedings against them when they were detained, yet the report did not propose punitive measures be imposed on Chang.
Additional reporting by Wu Po-hsuan and CNA
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