Activist groups based in Greater Kaohsiung yesterday accused police of using excessive force in dealing with protests against a visiting Chinese official, and demanded that Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) apologize and that the city’s police chief step down.
The Wing of Radical Politics (WRP) and the Southern Taiwan Society said authorities should make public video footage of the Hanshin Arena where a protester was allegedly attacked by police.
A high-school student surnamed Yen (顏) said he and a friend were trying to throw drinks at a car carrying Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) when they were dragged away by police. A man, Chuang Cheng-yang (莊程洋), tried to help them, but tripped and fell.
Photo: Reuters
“And when Chuang was on the ground, police rushed toward him, pressed his body down and rammed his head to the ground like a ball, breaking his glasses and injuring his head,” WRP chief executive Chen I-chi (陳奕齊) said.
“Since [former Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait chairman] Chen Yunlin’s (陳雲林) visit in 2008, whenever a Chinese official visits [Taiwan], our police turn against their fellow citizens,” Southern Taiwan Society president Tiunn Hok-chu (張復聚) said.
The groups said that the police’s use of force was unnecessary and accused the government of treating the public as its enemies.
They demanded that the city police chief be held accountable and step down, and that Chen apologize for “tainting the name of Kaohsiung, a city of human rights, for welcoming a special envoy from the celestial empire.”
Responding to the allegations, Chen said the city government would review the case and apologize to the students if police were found to have used excessive force.
Chen said she had spoken to Greater Kaohsiung Police Department Commissioner Huang Mao-sui (黃茂穗) by telephone, and demanded that the agency investigate the incident.
At 7pm last night, Chen posted a message on Facebook saying that as the city mayor, she felt sorry for students who were injured during the protests.
Zuoying Precinct said it has begun investigating the incident. The precinct displayed footage of the incident provided by TV reporters at a press conference yesterday afternoon, but the footage did not show how Chuang injured his head.
Police also denied some media reports that an officer threw Chuang over his shoulder.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu-yo (林雨佑), a reporter with the online news outlet Newtalk, yesterday reported that he followed the protesters to New Taipei City’s Wulai (烏來) on Thursday, but was stopped by police when he tried to take photos of the demonstrators.
According to Lin, police grabbed both his arms and tried to take away his camera even after he showed his media pass.
One of the officers asked where he got his pass, while another said: “Media pass, so what?”
Similar restrictive measures were enforced yesterday.
Railway police at the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Zuoying Station illegally blocked the station passageway to make way for Zhang, according to Hung Ting-hung (洪定宏), a reporter for the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
Not only were the protesters prohibited from getting close to Zhang, the movement and passage of passengers and reporters were also circumscribed, Hung said.
Hung accused a police officer of “sneakily” elbowing him in the stomach when he complained about the obstruction.
The Liberty Times issued a statement denouncing the obstruction and the use of force, demanding that the authorities hold the perpetrator responsible.
The National Police Agency responded by saying that the police “did not deliberately form a picket line to block the media,” adding that it might have been a case of miscommunication.
As for the alleged hitting, the agency said it was investigating the matter, and if found to be true, it would have the railway police bureau apologize.
At 7pm last night, Chen posted a message on her Facebook page saying that as the city mayor, she felt sorry for students getting injured in protest.
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