Three military officers were recently awarded state compensation for injuries resulting from wrongful murder charges brought against them and the damage done to their reputations by sensationalist media coverage.
The awarding of NT$250,000 to each of the three officers of the 10th army force in Tainan represents a landmark case, in which the state has been ordered to pay compensation for its law enforcement agents' ignorance of the principle of presumption of innocence.
Upholding the significance of the case, human rights and legal reform activists yesterday encouraged similar victims to take action against what they termed "big-mouth" practices of law enforcement agencies.
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) -- in cooperation with the Judicial Reform Foundation and the Taipei Bar Association -- will carry out a one-month field investigation into complaints against law enforcement agents who frequently leak information to the press.
Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), chairman of the TAHR, said his organization plans to release to the public a list of "big-mouth" prosecutors after the investigation is complete.
Lieutenant Huang Chun-ta (
"I was shattered when I looked at the news clippings my family had collected during my detention. It's outrageous that the police told the media we'd committed the murder," he said.
"My name was cleared by the prosecutor, who looked into the case and finally dismissed the charge against me," said the 27-year-old.
In July 1999, police arrested Huang and two other officers -- Huang Hsin-kai (黃信凱) and Sung Wen-tai (宋文泰) -- for the murder of a former colleague. Their arrest was based on statements made by a fourth man, a subordinate of Huang's.
While the subordinate confessed to the crime, Huang and the other accused pleaded innocent and presented their alibis.
However, the police issued a press release stating that all four were to be charged as accomplices to the murder -- even though no evidence against them had been obtained.
It became a high-profile case because of the alleged involvement of military officers. Detailed personal information on the three innocent men was made available to the media and was subsequently disclosed to the public.
Following the dismissal of their charges, Huang and the other two wrongfully accused filed a state compensation suit against the Tainan County Police Bureau. The Tainan District Court awarded NT$250,000 to each of them on the grounds that the police leaked information to the media, thus violating the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The code stipulates that criminal investigations should be kept confidential to uphold the principle of presumption of innocence and also to minimize interference in investigations.
The court determined that the police were in violation of the code and violated the principle of presumption of innocence.
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