Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) has said that a tracking device might have been installed in his car and accused the “state apparatus” of putting it there to stalk him.
However, many people think that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate is trying to shift the focus away from his poor performance as mayor.
More seriously, Han’s accusation about a tracking device being installed in his car could make him criminally liable.
If Han lodges a legal complaint, but fails to produce concrete evidence, he might be guilty of making false accusations.
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office has said that installing a tracking device would constitute an offense against privacy as defined in the Criminal Code.
The office said that invasion of privacy falls under the category of offenses that cannot be prosecuted unless the alleged victim lodges a legal complaint, so it asked Han to provide police or the office with pertinent information so that it can investigate and prosecute the case.
Han lives in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營), which is under the jurisdiction of the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office. However, the office said it has not received any such information.
The office therefore asked Han to provide evidence, if there is any, and said that it would thoroughly investigate the case if he does so.
If Han does not lodge a legal complaint, it would be obvious that he has no faith in his own accusations. It would mean that he is playing the role of “political victim” even though he knows full well that there is no tracking device.
As well as doing an injustice to civil servants, it would clearly show that he takes the nation’s voters for fools.
If Han does file a complaint without providing any evidence to back it up, he could be guilty of making “malicious accusations.”
Article 171 of the Criminal Code states: “A person who without naming a specific offender makes a malicious accusation before a competent public official shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of not more than NT$300. A person who without naming a specific offender causes the institution of criminal proceedings by forging or altering evidence of an offense or by making use of such forged or altered evidence shall be subject to the same punishment.”
To put it simply, if Han does not dare lodge a complaint, it would be obvious that he has been play-acting and pretending to be a “political victim” to draw attention away from his poor performance in the office of mayor.
Han fancies himself as both actor and director. He likes to put on a good show, but his latest dramatic production really goes over the top.
Huang Di-ying is a lawyer and chairman of the Taiwan Forever Association.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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