Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday urged the government to relaunch an investigation into the so-called “319 shooting case” of 2004, on the ninth anniversary of the incident that still divides society.
“I’m asking for [the relaunch] not only because most people do not think the case is closed, but also because the final report on the case has left many questions unanswered,” Lu told a press conference.
The 319 shooting incident refers to an attack on Lu and then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in Tainan on March 19, 2004, one day before the presidential election.
A bullet grazed Chen’s stomach and left a 13cm wound, while another bullet hit Lu in the knee. Authorities later identified the shooter as Chen Yi-hsiung (陳義雄), who was found dead 10 days after the shooting.
Lu yesterday displayed a written statement obtained from Chen when she visited the former president in prison on Monday. Chen is serving a 20-year sentence for corruption. He expressed his wish to reopen the investigation in the statement.
Lu, who has been studying the case and published a book on the subject, said the final report showed the investigators had made at least five mistakes, including the number of shooters, the location of the “hot zone” — from which the shots were fired — the trajectory analysis of the bullets by Henry Lee (李昌鈺), a US-based forensic scientist, the origin of the gun used in the shooting and the mysterious death of Chen Yi-hsiung.
Further investigation of the points of suspicion might lead to new findings, Lu said.
“The social and political division in Taiwan will not be healed until the truth is revealed,” the former vice president told reporters.
The Legislative Yuan should organize a public hearing and have investigators testify, she said.
Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers, including caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), said they would propose establishing an investigation committee in the legislature again.
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