Transitional Justice Commission associate researcher Wu Pei-jung (吳佩蓉) yesterday said she was the one who leaked a recording of former commission deputy chairman Chang Tien-chin (張天欽) commenting about manipulating the media.
In a statement on Facebook, Wu said that Chang’s conduct proved he was unqualified to be deputy chairman and she did not regret exposing him, the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media reported yesterday.
In another story published yesterday, the magazine reported that Chang, in an Aug. 24 commission meeting, said that former New Taipei City deputy mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) was a “despicable” case in the pursuit of transitional justice and that it would be a “shame” if Hou’s work in the authoritarian era was not capitalized upon.
“While using Hou to promote a lustration law makes sense to a certain extent, does having a high-ranking official with considerable influence and administrative resources manipulate the issue, using it to unjustly attack Hou, really strengthen our democracy?” Wu asked.
Her decision to expose Chang’s comments was motivated by a question she asked herself about whether Taiwan needs a lustration law and whether it would benefit the nation’s democracy, she said.
“If government officials’ past should undergo scrutiny, I believe it is necessary to ensure that all related political documents are collected and strictly examined,” she said.
“A lustration law should only be drafted after the majority of the public agrees with the idea,” she said.
The nation does not need an evil law “promoted in the name of justice,” she added.
Chang was unqualified to be deputy chairman, because he had been using public resources to promote his own interests, she said.
In addition to attempting to manipulate the media to attack his political opponent, Chang used the commission’s budget to pay for his house and furniture, and asked commission staff to run his personal errands, she said.
Chang is extremely rich, but the commission, established earlier this year, has a very limited budget, she added.
She apologized to her colleagues for betraying their trust and said she has resigned from her post.
She was ashamed of using an unjust method to expose the matter, but does not regret it, she added.
The commission would launch an investigation into the matter, commission Chairman Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) said.
Chang has verbally tendered his resignation and he has approved it, Huang said.
When asked about Wu, Huang only said that she did not show up for work yesterday.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
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