A 76-year-old man yesterday filed a lawsuit against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other government officials, saying he was seriously beat up by police officers during a crackdown on the occupation of the Executive Yuan on Sunday night to Monday morning last week.
The man, surnamed Chou (周), was pushed in a wheelchair to the Taipei District Court yesterday morning.
“I was sitting with the students during the occupation of the Executive Yuan [on Sunday night], and because I am too old to stand up immediately when police came to evict the students, several officers beat me hard and I had to stay in a hospital for six days,” he said.
Photo: CNA
Chou filed a lawsuit of attempted murder against Ma, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞), and Taipei’s Zhongzheng First Precinct Police Chief Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧).
Chou said police beat him with batons and shields until he lost consciousness. He said he woke up to find himself in a hospital.
Chou showed reporters a large area of bruises on his back.
Northern Taiwan Society executive head Sherry Huang (黃淑純), who was with Chou to file the suit, said a number of protesters were hit by police during the violent eviction.
She said Ma, Jiang and police officers should shoulder the responsibility for the national violence.
“It’s been eight days since Chou was beaten by the police. The bruises on his back have not gone away, and he still has swollen feet. The riot police were young enough to be his grandsons. How can they be so cruel?” Huang said.
Huang and several supporters chanted “condemn violence, tyranny” outside the district court.
On Monday last week, police forcefully evicted thousands of students protesting the cross-strait service trade agreement in the Executive Yuan complex, with scores of demontrators being injured.
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