Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
"Political surveillance does not exist anymore because a direct order from the president banned it," the minister said.
"These days, we only keep tabs on certain people who have allegedly broken the law," he said.
"In addition, we only conduct necessary surveillance on these suspects, which means we do not begin the process before we have sufficient evidence against them," he added.
Chen Ding-nan made his remarks in response to a question from People First Party Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) during a meeting of the legislature's Judicial Committee.
Sun complained that the Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Bureau had been investigating the pan-blue camp's presidential campaign ever since the beginning of this month.
He displayed a document which he claimed was the result of such an investigation, and then showed it to the justice minister.
"The document covers details of the campaign, including sponsors' and supporters' names, phone numbers, addresses and campaign activity plans," Sun said.
"Furthermore, Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] Youth Department Director Liu Tsan-shu (劉燦樹) was personally investigated and monitored," he said.
After reviewing the document, Chen Ding-nan told the committee that what it detailed was unacceptable.
But he said he could not presume that it was the result of his investigative agents' activities.
Meanwhile, bureau Director-General Yeh Sheng-mao (
Yeh said he knew this was so because the bureau had never asked agents to conduct such operations since he took over the top job three years ago.
"I assure you that we did not do it. I will resign if the accusation is proven to be true," Yeh said.
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