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Professors questioned by police for giving speeches

Two professors from National Taiwan University were hauled in for questioning by police yesterday on suspicion of violating an authoritarian-era law that restricts freedom of assembly.

The professors were interviewed after making a series of speeches at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall criticizing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his administration, as well as the opposition parties.

Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) and Huang Kuang-kuo (黃光國), both of whom are key figures of a minor political party -- the Democratic Action Alliance -- were questioned by officers of the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng First Police District.

"They were summoned for questioning on suspicion of violating the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法), but we have not decided whether to charge them," vice chief of Zhongzheng First Police District Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧) told the Taipei Times yesterday.

Chang told reporters after the questioning that he and a few other professors who were concerned about the nation's democracy had held "democracy night market" activities every evening at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, and had made speeches by turns.

"Such activities are similar to orators speaking on soapboxes at Hyde Park in the UK, and they are not mass gatherings," Chang said.

The activities have taken place for months, ever since the first family and government officials were linked to high-profile scandals.

Chang yesterday criticized both the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for being unwilling to abandon the totalitarian laws of the KMT era that deprive the public of the freedom to assemble and stage rallies.

Both parties use these laws to suppress public opinion, he added.

At a press conference organized by Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) last week, the Taiwan Association of Human Rights and 20 other groups also demanded that the Assembly and Parade Law be amended.

The groups charged that the government had used the Assembly and Parade Law as a tool to suppress -- rather than protect -- public liberty.

The groups said they would push for an amendment to what they described as a "bad" law.

Under current regulations, the police are given the power to permit or deny applications for assembly, restrict protesters' activities, maintain order and dismiss assemblies, but no details are given as to how this power should be exercised.
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