Accompanied by fellow members of political group Flanc Radical, Yen Ming-wei (顏銘緯), the college freshman who hurled a copy of Formosa Betrayed at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) last month, reported to the police yesterday afternoon amid cheers of encouragement from supporters.
Police summoned Yen for questioning following two lawsuits filed separately against him, including one by the head of the Shilin military police station for allegedly obstructing officers, and another by a man surnamed Lee (李), who claimed the book hit his stomach.
Yen first gained attention after he mobilized a large number of students from southern Taiwan to join the Sunflower movement in Taipei earlier this year.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
He also made headlines when he threw a copy of Formosa Betrayed, a book written by former US diplomat George Kerr, at Ma.
Dressed in formal attire and accompanied by all five candidates nominated by Flanc Radical, Yen, director of Flanc Radical’s electoral campaign in Kaohsiung, staunchly defended his actions and accused the Ma administration of “judicial prosecution.”
“People have condemned throwing a book as an act of violence. However, the Ma administration still holds in its hands the power of state violence,” Yen said. “For me to throw a book is like hitting a stone with an egg. How can this be an act of violence?”
Yen said that in his view, Ma was the one enacting violence on Taiwanese by aggressively pursuing stronger ties with China.
Yen also urged the public not to dismiss him as a child, saying: “My student status is only a sideline, as I am first and foremost the director of Flanc Radical’s electoral campaign.”
Nearly a dozen members of the pro-independence Taiwan National Congress (TNC) waited in front of the office in support of Yen before his arrival, wielding large black flags attached to flagpoles more than two stories tall.
One supporter, TNC member Lin Xin-kai (林新凱), said the group rallied to offer their support to Yen and Flanc Radical, saying that the groups shared similar goals.
Other groups also showed up to express their support, including the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and Taiwan Youth Against Communism.
Before entering the police office for questioning, Yen led his supporters in chanting: “Without the fall of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT], Taiwan will never get better.”
As Yen was speaking to reporters and his supporters, a man who was apparently against Yen’s views interrupted loudly and accused him of promoting violence, before being pulled aside.
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