Legislators and members of the public criticized prosecutors for dropping the charges against 12 military officials in a case which raised fears of a return to Martial Law era authoritarianism and abuse of people’s rights, while the Ministry of National Defense said it respected the judiciary’s decision.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said yesterday that he very much regretted that prosecutors did not bring charges against the 12 military officials for their roles in a search in February at a civilian’s home for documents relating to White Terror era prosecution cases, as they did so at a residence belonging to a man in New Taipei City without obtaining a search warrant.
On Monday, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office announced that the man, surnamed Wei (魏), had agreed to the search by military police officers and had signed a “consent” form, and that video evidence indicated that Wei had behaved in a natural way and did not seem to be coerced or put under any pressure.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
However, the statement did reprimand the military police and the Military Security Brigade for allocating excessive resources to the search at a civilian’s house and for a number of transgressions of the proper procedures.
“We have military police officers entering a civilian’s house to look for some stuff, but they did so without a search warrant. In a democratic nation, this cannot be tolerated. As for the statement by prosecutors, they are not even trying to uphold the rights of ordinary citizens,” Wang said.
Wang said he would continue to press for further investigation of the case as he does not want to see it swept under the carpet.
The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee has approved a resolution to set up an ad hoc task force to access materials and documents pertaining to the case, he said.
Other members of the committee also expressed their concern and indignation over the charges being dropped.
New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said he respected the judiciary’s decision, “but the outcome does not mean there was nothing wrong with human rights education in the military. The controversy arose from the gross abuse of the rights of citizens, and the claim by military officials that the man in question willingly gave his consent for the search.”
DPP Legislator Lu Sun-ling (呂孫綾) said the case has caused people to have anxiety about a return of White Terror era authoritarianism.
“We want to see the ministry stamp out these kind of activities, it must not be allowed to happen again,” Lu said.
The ministry released a statement on Monday saying it respected the decision not to bring charges and that it had requested the military agencies involved to review and rectify their handling of such cases, since some aspects of the case have been questioned.
Wei said he was dismayed by the prosecutors’ decision and disagreed with the assessment that he voluntarily agreed to have his house searched by the military police.
“I was scared to death at the time. Can I refuse to sign the consent form? I did not think it was possible,” Wei said. “I am just an ordinary person from the countryside, who does not know much about legal matters. How could I express my opinion at the time? What could I do?”
“Even when the police come to undertake an investigation it is a big deal for most people. In this case, the military police officers accused me of violating the law on national security. Anyone in my position would be nervous and highly stressed. How could I refuse their request at the time?” he said.
Food delivery provider Foodpanda had 564 consumer disputes from January to last month and failed to attend many mediation sessions with local governments nationwide, the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee said. In a news release earlier this month, the committee said that it investigated consumer complaints and mediations for Foodpanda and rival Uber Eats during the period, when the number of delivery orders jumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Uber Eats had 80 consumer disputes, the committee said. Of Foodpanda’s consumer disputes, 368 resulted from delivery drivers canceling orders after customers could not be reached, 108 were related to the quality or quantity
‘HONEYMOON’ IS OVER: A political science professor said that the Tsai administration’s popularity peaked after it successfully contained COVID-19, but is waning President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) approval ratings fell significantly this month in the wake of the government’s handling of the distribution of relief funds and stimulus coupons to people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a poll released yesterday by the New Power Party (NPP) showed. The poll showed that 68 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Tsai’s performance, down 8.9 percentage points from last month, while 21 percent said they disapproved of her performance. Her approval among respondents aged 20 to 29 fell 14.7 percentage points, the largest decrease when compared with other age
‘CHINESE CAPITAL’: Fanny Liu was found guilty of reducing the rent of a tenant in exchange for a vote for a KMT Taipei city councilor candidate The Taipei District Court on Wednesday sentenced Fanny Liu (劉樂妍), a former member of the now-disbanded female pop group Fantasy 4, to 10 years in prison for vote-buying. The court found Liu — who is now based in China and has made pro-Chinese Communist Party remarks — guilty of reducing the rent on a Taipei property she owned in exchange for the tenant voting for a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate in the November 2018 nine-in-one local elections. She can appeal the ruling. Liu in December 2018 reportedly lowered the rent by NT$1,000 after the tenant said they had voted for Taipei City
Passengers arriving at Taoyuan International Airport will find that most entrances to both terminals have been sealed off as part of its COVID-19 prevention efforts. Follow the signs and directions posted on the doors to find the nearest entry point. The airport has installed infrared cameras and thermometer guns at all open entrances, and all persons with a temperature of over 37.5 degrees Celsius are prohibited from entering the terminal. In addition, staff will take the temperature of those checking in to their flights in advance at Airport MRT stations A1 and A3. In accordance with the Centers of Disease
RSS