Attorneys volunteering to represent people who participated in the Sunflower movement protests last year against the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade agreement yesterday submitted a petition to the Taipei City Government asking for state compensation on behalf of 30 alleged victims of state violence.
Taipei Deputy Commissioner of Legal Affairs Lin Shu-hua (林淑華) accepted the petition on behalf of the city government.
Last month, Lin Ming-hui (林明慧) won a lawsuit accusing the state of violence after he sustained a head injury after being apprehended by police officers in a protest in front of the Executive Yuan on March 24 last year.
Photo: Hsiao Ting-fang, Taipei Times
Lin Ming-hui had filed an administrative lawsuit against the Executive Yuan, the Taipei City Government, the National Police Agency and the Taipei Police Department for violating the Act Governing the Use of Police Weapons (警械使用條例).
The Taipei District Court ruled that the Taipei City Government had to compensate Lin Min-hui NT$300,000 (US$9,150) for the head injury, which the city chose not to appeal.
Citing the case, the attorneys said they are seeking restitution of approximately NT$10.06 million on behalf of 30 alleged victims of violence.
Lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that the police officer who attacked Lin Ming-hui has yet to be identified, meaning that nobody could be held accountable.
After a similar situation at a protest against the Ministry of Education’s adjustments to the high-school curriculum guidelines on July 23, in which the police officer who attacked protesters was not identified, Koo said the city government should establish standard procedures regulating how the police enforce laws at protests in which police officers must properly identify themselves when enforcing the law.
Chen Yu-fan (陳雨凡), a lawyer with the Judicial Reform Foundation, said the lawyers representing the victims are discussing if they should continue to attempt to hold the Executive Yuan and the National Police Agency legally accountable for the violent acts committed against protesters during demonstrations.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS