The dismissal of charges by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office against 15 people in the Apache helicopter tour incident not only contravenes social expectations, but has also set a bad precedent and should be repealed by the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office, legislators across party lines said yesterday.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday decided not to press charges against 15 civilians and military officers, who were in March allowed access into a restricted military base to board an Apache helicopter, on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
Legislators said the prosecutors’ decision trivialized the case in which 20 military officials, including Chief of the General Staff Yen Te-fa (嚴德發), Army Commander General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) and then-Army Special Forces Command’s Airborne Headquarters Commanding Officer Lieutenant General Chen Chien-tsai (陳健財) were implicated in the alleged “serious harm” caused to the image of the nation’s military.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that even if the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade base, housing Apache helicopters that are a primary branch of the military, is not considered a vital military area, it should not be open for tours like a theme park.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office is utterly dysfunctional and should consider closing down for not recognizing that Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng (勞乃成) was guilty of appropriating army weaponry, Chen Chi-mai said.
The 15 individuals were accused of violating the National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), the Punishment Act of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍懲罰法) and Vital Area Regulations (要塞堡壘地帶法). Lao was also accused of appropriating army weaponry for personal use when he reportedly took an Apache pilot helmet off the premises to attend a fancy-dress party.
Both Chen Chi-mai and DPP Legislator Chiu Chi-wei (邱志偉) said that unseen political forces might be at work in helping to protect Ministry of National Defense officials.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) also denounced the prosecutors’ decision as ludicrous.
Military bases are not exhibitions of national history and if expensive weaponry purchased using government funds is reduced to items of interests for the wealthy, we should simply purchase Hollywood-made props for tours, Tsai said.
The decision runs contrary to social expectations, and while it was made with standing legal regulations in mind, the ministry should see this incident as an impetus to amend regulations related to military weaponry, Wu said.
The Apache helmets are very expensive and use advanced technology — they are nothing like regular scooter helmets which can be purchased for NT$300, Wu said, adding that such equipment should be tightly controlled by the military.
The ministry must mete out heavy punishments against these individuals for violation of administrative responsibility to offer the public a satisfactory explanation, Wu said.
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