Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) yesterday admitted that the manner in which police attempted to verify information that a university student had been planning to engage in violence during the demonstrations against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Sunday was inappropriate.
A Tamkang University student surnamed Chen (陳) told a press conference on Tuesday that police officers visited his home in Pingtung County on Monday — a day after the rally — and asked his mother if he took part in the demonstrations.
Chen said he was only a university student who pays attention to current affairs, but that the manner in which police inquired about him made him feel threatened.
“It’s as if the White Terror has returned,” he said.
The National Police Agency later said that police inquired about Chen’s whereabouts after receiving information from the National Security Bureau claiming that a man with the same name as the student might throw petrol bombs during the rally.
At the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee meeting yesterday, Liao told Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yu Tian (余天) that the information turned out to be a false lead.
“In a democracy like Taiwan, everyone is free to take part in demonstrations. I would not tolerate it if someone were harassed by police for participating in a rally,” Liao said.
“We received information that someone with the same name as the student could engage in violence during the rally. Now we know the information was false,” he said.
Liao initially said police did nothing wrong as their sole intention was to ensure the safety of demonstrators.
After Yu protested several times, Liao admitted that police could have handled the matter with more tact.
“Police officers should act more carefully so that people will not feel threatened,” Liao said. “I will ask officers to go to the student’s house to explain everything to his mother.”
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正) said he doubted Liao was telling the truth.
“If police established that the information they had been given was false, they could have apologized to the student and his family on the spot,” Lin said.
“Why did they wait until the student complained at a news conference and a lawmaker raised questions on the matter before apologizing?” he asked.
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