Despite having apologized to victims of the White Terror era, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was interrupted yesterday at a memorial event marking the 21st anniversary of the lifting of martial law by a tearful protester.
A member of the audience, Yao Mu-chi (姚沐棋), drew the attention of cameras shortly after Ma began his speech addressing the memorial service at the Chiehshou Park monument commemorating political prisoners held during the Martial Law era.
Cameramen turned from Ma’s speech to Yao in the back row as she aired her grievances.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
Security personnel approached the 61-year-old, who responded: “You have no right to ask me to leave.”
“This is a free country and I have an invitation. I have every right to sit here,” she said.
A man in the audience joined in, applauding and shouting: “KMT bastard!”
She challenged authorities to arrest her and put her in jail: “What do I care? My hair is already gray.”
FAMILY TRAGEDY
In tears, Yao said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government had wrongfully convicted her parents and ruined the lives of her and her entire family.
Yao said her parents, both journalists, were accused of spying for the Chinese Communist Party. Her mother, who was convicted without a trial, died of torture 85 days after being arrested, Yao said.
Her father, also convicted of spying, served 10 years in jail, Yao said.
Yao said she and her two older sisters were labeled as the “daughters of spies” and blocked from promotions at work and from taking national examinations for civil servants.
TRAUMA
Yao said she was so traumatized at the time that she was admitted to a psychiatric ward for six months.
Yao said her family received some compensation from the government later, but that the money should not have come from taxpayers but rather from the KMT’s assets.
While Yao recounted her story, Ma went on with his speech, saying freedom was more important than seeing eye to eye with him.
He ended his talk with a bow and an apology, saying that he hoped political persecution would never happen on this soil again.
CONCERNED
Ma said that although this was the first memorial he had attended in his capacity as president, it was not the first he had attended as a politician, adding that he had long been concerned with the nation’s history.
Ma said that even in today’s democratic society he had personally been targeted with wrongful allegations, citing the corruption charges brought against him over the use of his special allowance fund as Taipei mayor.
The situation was even worse 40 or 50 years ago when the rule of law was still in its infancy, Ma said.
Ma said that martial law had been imposed because of the civil war between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party and that without the civil war, there would not have been any human rights violations.
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