Sat, Apr 17, 2010 page3

• Activist accuses judiciary of perjury, wants investigation

  • By J. Michael Cole / STAFF REPORTER
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  Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan convener Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) and his counsels on Thursday accused the judiciary of perjury and called for an investigation.

  The allegation came in the wake of charges against Tsay following a protest at the Legislative Yuan on Sept. 8 last year, when he was alleged by police to have obstructed their work and thrown himself onto a vehicle.

  In a police video, Tsay is seen being blocked by five police officers in front of the legislative building. At 4:08pm Tsay briefly collides with a vehicle driving through the legislature gates. Off balance as he seeks to avoid contact with police, his back and hand come into contact with the vehicle for less than a second, whereupon two officers pull him away.

  Tsay and about 20 other people continued the protest and at 4:20pm he was bumped by another vehicle leaving the legislature, after which he was manhandled by police and a melee ensued. He was eventually taken away.

  Tsay told a press conference on Tuesday that his intention that day was to petition the legislature to lower the threshold for referendums, but that dozens of police officers blocked his access to the building. The video corroborates his claim.

  “They didn’t have a warrant and had no cause to take him in,” Tsay’s counsel Billy Chen Da-cheng (陳達成) told the Taipei Times on Thursday. “This is the Legislative Yuan. There’s no need to apply for a permit to be there.”

  Chen said that while footage shot by police, as well as 64 pictures, was submitted to the court, the judge relied solely on witnesses — police officers, as well as the driver of the vehicle with which Tsay collided at 4:08pm — to support the charges.

  Prosecutors said Tsay “threw himself” at the vehicle, a claim that the footage does not support. While in court, the driver of the vehicle initially said Tsay had not thrown himself at the vehicle, only to retract his comment and claim that he did, Chen said.

  Tsay and his counsels have laid charges against the police witnesses, the driver and the judge for what they claim was “fabricating evidence.”

  “This is a clear example of how warped the judiciary has become under the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration,” Chen said.

  Since Ma came to power, other cases involving police allegedly fabricating evidence — sometimes with judges fully cognizant that this was happening — have occurred, Chen said.

  Tsay said he does not have any bad feelings toward the police.

  “They privately told us they had the pressure from above, even if they could not find any wrongdoing in our activities. They are also victims of the oppressive system,” Tsay said.

  Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office spokesman Wang Wen-te (王文德) said yesterday that Tsay was indicted after prosecutors reviewed all evidence, including the video tape offered by police, and found he had broken the law.

  Additional reporting by Rich Chang

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