The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday pledged to ensure the fair treatment of a Taiwanese man detained by Australian authorities over his alleged involvement in an intimidation case, after the man’s family accused the ministry of indifference.
The ministry’s pledge came just hours after relatives of 31-year-old Wu Tse-chun (吳澤濬) were joined by Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers at a news conference in Taipei, saying that the ministry had refused to protest against the treatment Wu has received.
Wu’s family said he traveled to Australia in 2011 through a working holiday program and was admitted to a local school in 2013.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Wu was arrested in December last year in Brisbane for alleged involvement in an intimidation case.
He was initially held at a police station, but was transfered to an immigration detention center in Brisbane after his student visa was revoked, his family said.
Wu was later moved to a detention center on Christmas Island, his family said, adding that neither they nor the Taiwanese government was notified by the Australian government of the move.
His relatives said they sought help from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brisbane, but it declined to intervene.
Ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the office had immediately sent staff to visit Wu at the detention center in Brisbane after it received requests for help from his family via e-mail in December.
Upon learning that Wu had been moved to Christmas Island, the office contacted the detention center there to make sure he was not mistreated and had access to communications facilities, Lee said.
Although legal proceedings in the case have begun, the office would do its utmost to ensure that Wu receives fair treatment during his detention and trial, Lee said, adding that it would also send staff to visit him if allowed.
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