A journalist for online news agency Newtalk went to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday to press charges against New Taipei City police in a bid to uphold freedom of the press, and to protest against police violence toward media workers.
News reporter Lin Yu-yo (林雨佑) was accompanied by Newtalk editor-in-chief Leon Chuang (莊豐嘉) as he filed suit against the police over incidents arising from media coverage of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Zhang Zijun’s (張志軍) visit to Taiwan in June.
“This lawsuit is to let the government’s operating apparatus know that freedom of the press is a cherished value. It must not be trampled under by police violence… We hope the lawsuit can deter police from using violent tactics against journalists in the future,” Lin said.
Photo: Chien Lee-chung, Taipei Times
Lin was sent to cover Zhang’s trip to an Aboriginal village in New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) on June 26.
Protesters and civic groups, led by the Black Island National Youth Front were there to block the road to the village and Lin was at the scene to report on the situation, as police moved in to remove protesters by force.
Lin said he showed his press badge to the police and was not interfering with the police actions as he videotaped officers rounding up and detaining protesters with plasticuffs.
“Then all of a sudden, several police officers came over and began to shove and physically assault me to prevent me from videotaping the scene. I showed them my press badge, but they continued to manhandle me, and were going to handcuff me as well,” he said.
“One commanding police officer yelled at me: ‘Who gave you the press credentials?’ Another said: ‘You have a press badge, so what? You and the protesters should all be rounded up.’ It was clear that the police were preventing journalists from reporting on what was going on, with the malicious intent to suppress press freedom,” Lin said.
“In recent years, we have seen the vigorous growth of civic society movement activities in Taiwan,” Chuang said. “The police should be more prudent in enforcing state authority.”
“However, we are seeing more police violence incidents against citizens. So we had little choice but to press charges against the police. We are doing this to urge the authorities to guarantee the protection of press freedom,” he said.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he
RSS