President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) sense of humor was on show again yesterday when he joked that investigators should not smoke when they interrogate suspects to elicit confessions from them.
“How did the investigating agent torture you? Did he beat you? The suspect said no, adding that it was the agents chain-smoking that made him nearly choke to death,” Ma said, recalling a conversation he had with a suspect when he was minister of justice.
“If [investigators] are smokers, remember that [you] should smoke outside and not inside during the interrogation process,” Ma told the 46th graduating class of agents at the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau in Sindian (新店).
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The average age of the graduates was about 27 years old. There were 41 men and 35 women.
Ma said that the bureau’s top priority was obtaining information concerning national security. However, he also urged agents to probe irregularities and corruption involving government officials to help establish clean government.
He told law enforcement personnel to exercise their powers cautiously because “infringements of human rights are mainly caused by the government and the overexertion of public power.”
Ma said there were fewer illegal wiretapping cases since he took office, adding: “It’s not that I was asking you to forget such measures, but that they should only be conducted when necessary and legal … Only when these principles are abided by can we say that we are a democratic country ruled by law.”
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
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