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Friends, family of protesters planning another rally

“I have personally talked to Chang’s brother twice over the telephone, explaining the whole situation and we have even mailed a [national compensation] application form to the family.” — Yang Hsi-an, Taipei secretariat director

Friends and family members of the two demonstrators struck by a police car last month at an anti-government protest said yesterday they plan to stage a rally outside Taipei City Hall, possibly this week or next.

Lin Chien-lun (林建綸), a neighbor of the victims, said he was planning to mobilize 400 people for the protest.

Lin mobilized about 100 people from Bade (八德) in Taoyuan County to stage a protest outside Taipei City Hall last month to complain about the punishment meted out to the officers involved.

They said it was too light and that another disciplinary meeting should be held.

The officers — stationed at Taipei City’s Zhongzheng First Precinct — each received a major demerit and two minor demerits, while their supervisors each received a minor demerit.

Lin said he could accept the city’s request that the family of victim Chang Chung-hsiung (張忠雄) pay for his expenses now and claim compensation later, but he found the national compensation nothing but an empty promise.

“I don’t think it will be approved, because it is very hard to get national compensation,” he said. “I would like to see the city give the family a more concrete promise.”

As for what this should constitute, Lin said he would need to discuss the matter with the victims’ family.

The Taipei City Government yesterday said it would shoulder the expenses but blamed the family for not filing for national compensation.

Taipei Secretariat Director Yang Hsi-an (楊錫安) said Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) had instructed related agencies to complete the process of national compensation as soon as possible, but the family had yet to file the request.

It was not a matter of how much money should be given to the family, Yang said, but how much was needed.

“Maybe the family wants NT$5 million [US$150,000] but it might not be enough,” he said. “We need to know exactly how much he [Chang] earned, how much a caregiver costs, and how long they will hire the person.”

As the process of national compensation takes time, Yang said the city would pay for the expenses in the meantime as long as the family could produce evidence showing how much was needed.

“We are partially responsible for the incident, but any city payment must go through a legal process,” he said. “The family can claim compensation from the city if they can present receipts.”

Yang said it was unfair to say that the City Government did not offer any assistance to the victims, especially to Chang.

“There must be some kind of misunderstanding here. We are more than willing to provide help at any time,” Yang said.

“I have personally talked to Chang’s brother twice over the telephone, explaining the whole situation and we have even mailed a [national compensation] application form to the family,” he said.

As the Zhongzheng First Precinct hoped the city could use the second emergency fund to pay for Chang’s medical expenses and caregiver — which have been funded by the precinct since the accident — Yang said yesterday there should not be any problem as long as the precinct made the request.

Yang, however, said that he did not think it was necessary to use the second emergency fund because there was still money left in the first emergency fund.
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