"What's the charge? Who is the defendant? Is the material in question secret or not? The prosecutors are first obliged to make clear these very basic questions before they take action," Lee said.
Many legislators along with the Association of Taiwan Journalists (台灣記者協會) yesterday complained that it is "misleading" for the prosecutors to search journalists, who might have been given the information in question by the law enforcement officials themselves.
Lin said that an important issue was that law enforcement officials often blame the press when they themselves were actually the source of the so-called confidential information.
"The principle that a criminal investigation should remain secret is not employed to restrain the press, but it's something for any law enforcement officials to keep in mind," Lin said.
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