Military police yesterday confirmed that one of their members who briefly went missing from his post at the presidential residence on July 2 was being treated as a deserter.
The police said the soldier’s four superior officers would also be punished after they allegedly tried to cover up his absence.
“We received an anonymous tip on Sept. 15 that a private surnamed Fan (范) was missing from his post,” said Major General Shih Shih-chieh (史世傑), spokesman for the military police. “We have also launched a military investigation into his four superior officers, including his battalion commander Chang Da-ping (張大平).”
Shih made the remarks during a press conference at the Ministry of National Defense yesterday morning.
Shih was referring to an incident that allegedly took place on July 2 at a high-security location around the presidential residence. Fan is a private with the military police’s 332 Battalion, which is responsible for security at the presidential residence.
The incident made front pages on Sept. 6, when local Chinese-language newspapers reported that Fan had missed his guard duty on July 2, while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was visiting the nation’s allies in central and south America.
Chang told military police headquarters that Fan had switched to a later shift and Fan was then jailed for three days, Shih said.
On Sept. 15, the anonymous whistleblower again informed military police headquarters that Fan had left his post without an excuse and had gone to a park in Changhua. Fan called his parents and told them what had happened. His parents then contacted Fan’s superior officers, who later found him at the park in Changhua and escorted him back to Taipei.
“Fan is being investigated by military prosecutors and we treat him as a deserter,” Shih said. “While military prosecutors are investigating the case, Chang will also be removed from his post with a demerit on his record.”
Asked if Fan had trouble getting along with fellow soldiers, Shih said his personality was the problem.
“We are sorry we gave you wrong information about this case because we also received wrong information from Chang in the first instance,” Shih said.
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