The High Court yesterday overturned a lower court’s ruling and found seven Sunflower movement figures, including Dennis Wei (魏揚), Yoshi Liu (劉敬文) and Chen Ting-hao (陳廷豪), guilty of inciting people to storm the Executive Yuan on March 23, 2014, resulting in their forceful eviction by police.
The seven were among 10 defendants, out of group of 21 tried by the Taipei District Court over the storming of the Executive Yuan, who were acquitted on April 10, 2017, of inciting others to commit a crime and theft in the first ruling.
The 11 other defendants were found guilty — eight of obstructing official business and three of damaging public property — and were sentenced to three to five months in prison.
Photo: CNA
The High Court, in the second ruling on the case, sentenced Wei, Liu, Chen and the other four to between two and four months in prison, and it upheld the convictions of 10 of the others.
Huang Mao-chi (黃茂吉), who had been sentenced to five months, did not appeal the lower court's verdict.
All of the sentences in yesterday’s ruling can be commuted to a fine, usually at a rate of NT$1,000 to NT$2,000 per day. They can also still be appealed.
“Wei and other people wrote messages and urged people to emulate the occupation of the Legislative Yuan at the time by occupying the Executive Yuan. In objective and subjective considerations, they intended to incite others to commit crime,” the High Court said in its ruling.
“As we are a democratic nation governed by the rule of law ... if there were major flaws in Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] members submitting the bill for the cross-strait service trade agreement [CSSTA], disputes could be mediated through cross-party negotiation in the legislature, or [through a] request for a constitutional interpretation, if [it was] found to have breached the Constitution,” the statement said.
“If the above were unable to resolve the dispute, our nation also has democratic elections for people to elect the president and legislators, [and] for redressing or amending the CSSTA. Therefore, the actions of Wei and the others were not ‘the last resort,’ and as other options were available, they should not have undertaken such actions to seek support” from the public, it said.
Then-premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), who ordered police to use force to evict the protesters, during which many sustained injuries, lauded the ruling.
“Justice is usually delayed, but it will come eventually,” he said.
“The Executive Yuan’s occupation was not a peaceful protest, and the Sunflower movement was not a civil disobedience movement,” Jiang said. “Only after the heated emotions during the movement have receded can the courts gradually shed light on the events and make deliberations in a level-headed manner.”
Wei condemned the ruling, saying: “The ruling shows that the prosecutors and judges viewed them [protesters] as people who cannot think for themselves, as mobs following a crowd’s actions. This decision insults everyone who participated in the action that night. It is an insult not only against us seven, but the tens of thousands of Taiwanese who took part in the Sunflower movement.”
Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said “premier Jiang at the time ordered police to use violent means to remove the protesters, many of whom were beaten up... One person who was assaulted and was injured later tragically died of his injuries. However, the officers who assaulted the protesters ... cannot be found to this day.”
This story has been corrected since it was first published to show that seven defendants, not three, were found guilty in the second ruling.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS