The planned police presence at Sunflower movement leader Lin Fei-fan’s (林飛帆) wedding on Sunday sparked controversy yesterday, with the Changhua Police Department saying it will increase the number of officers at the event.
The leaking of a document purporting to detail plans to deploy officers at the event drew reactions late on Wednesday, with many netizens criticizing the allocation of public resources to protect a private event.
Some criticized the leak for disrupting wedding preparations and disclosing the address of the venue.
The number of officers outside the venue needs to be increased now that the wedding site has been made public, Changhua County Police Department Deputy Director-General Chia Li-min (賈立民) said.
Chia said the leaked plan had not been officially approved.
The department is investigating the source of the leak and intends to punish the leaker, he said, adding that Lin had not been informed about the department’s plans.
The department regrets any disruption caused by the exposure of its plans, Chia said.
The wedding is planned to take place at a farm in Changhua City where traffic jams are frequent, while Lin is a public figure, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chiu Chang-yueh (邱昌嶽) said, adding that police had planned security and traffic measures in advance.
“We will communicate with Mr Lin, and ensure security and traffic controls under the premise that his opinion is respected,” Chiu said.
The ministry will ask law enforcement not to disclose any private information, as an officer has already leaked online the wedding site and security arrangements, Chiu said.
Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) supported a police presence at the venue, saying he respects the judgement of police intelligence units.
“We do not want any of the related agencies to waste public resources on unnecessary ‘peacekeeping,’” Lin said yesterday.
Lin denied that invitations had been extended to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), but did not confirm whether invitations had been extended to Hong Kong pro-democracy activists.
The possible attendance of Hong Kong activists was claimed to be the reason behind increased police presence, after Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) and several other Hong Kong activists escaped an attack at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport earlier this year.
Late on Wednesday, Lin condemned the disclosure of the wedding site as a violation of privacy.
Additional reporting by Chen Wei-han, Tang Shih-ming
and Liu Hsiao-hsin
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