The Retired Police Officers’ Association this week protested over a court ruling requiring the state to pay compensation to 10 people who were injured during the Sunflower movement in 2014.
The Taipei District Court last month ruled that the Taipei City Police Department must pay NT$1.11 million (US$36,348) in total damages to 10 protesters, who sustained serious injuries when police forcibly removed them from the Executive Yuan complex during the demonstrations.
The association on Tuesday said that the ruling was politically motivated and unacceptable, adding that those who broke the law have been raised above those authorized to enforce it.
“In the face of this chaos, everyone should fight for the dignity and honor of the police,” the association said in the statement, as hundreds of retired police officers and their families gathered in front of the Taipei District Court before marching to the Executive Yuan.
Former Taipei county commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), former Central Police University professor Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) and several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative candidates joined the gathering and gave speeches in support of the retired police officers.
The protesters dispersed after association head Keng Chi-wen (耿繼文) handed a petition to Chang Hung-chun (張洪鈞), deputy director of the Cabinet’s Department of Foreign Affairs, National Defense and Justice.
In the petition, the association said the Taipei District Court ruling had failed to distinguish between right and wrong, Keng said.
The Sunflower movement began with the occupation of the main legislative chamber in Taipei on March 18, 2014, and lasted 22 day and 21 hours. Those involved were protesting a perceived lack of transparency regarding a trade-in-services agreement signed between Taiwan and China.
The agreement was shelved in Taiwan due to the protests.
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