The Taipei City Police Department yesterday said that it would appeal a ruling passed down by the Taipei District Court on Wednesday that ordered it to compensate then-legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) and 13 other protesters who stormed the Executive Yuan in the 2014 Sunflower movement a total of NT$1.11 million (US$36,439).
At a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) asked Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and department Commissioner Chen Jia-chang (陳嘉昌) whether the ruling would be appealed.
Ko said that he would mull over the issue after the city government receives the ruling.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The incident is political in nature and should be handled through political means rather than through legal channels, he said.
If the department does not appeal, the issue could evolve into one that involves state compensation, and by then police who evicted the protesters during the occupation of the Executive Yuan could be held accountable, which would not be fair to them, he added.
The department’s stance on the issue is to appeal, Ko said, adding that he would deliberate whether the issue could be resolved “politically.”
During questioning later by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chang Mao-nan (張茂楠), Ko said that it should be clarified who gave the order to forcibly evict the protesters.
“The National Police Agency oversaw the operation. It could not have been the Taipei City Police Department. Just sue the higher-ups,” Ko said.
Chen later said that the department would appeal the ruling to protect the rights of police officers.
Even though Ko was reserved in his response to Wang, the mayor has always stood with Taipei police, Chen added.
Separately yesterday, the KMT legislative caucus protested and expressed regret over the ruling, urging the department to appeal.
The ruling has negatively affected police morale and ignored the principles followed by law enforcement of protecting law-abiding people, cracking down on illegal activities and quelling violence, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Arthur Chen (陳宜民) said, adding that the presiding judge apparently adjudicated the case based solely on protesters’ testimony, without putting the eviction into context.
“There have been no photographs or video footage of officers attacking civilians,” Chen added.
After the DPP returned to power in the 2016 presidential election, then-premier Lin Chuan (林全) quickly dropped all charges the former KMT administration had pressed against protesters who stormed the Executive Yuan, as they “had helped the DPP win the election,” KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
He questioned whether the court had issued a political ruling at the expense of the legitimacy of law enforcement.
The department must appeal the ruling, otherwise it could leave police at a loss as to how to enforce the law, Lai said.
KMT Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said that police would have been in dereliction of duty had they not evicted the protesters.
She accused the DPP of applying a double standard, as it last year also adopted a heavy-handed approach when it sent police to evict pension reform protesters from the Legislative Yuan.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from