Admitting he had pushed a police officer during a clash on Wednesday that led to the latter being injured, Liu Ching-cheng (劉慶澄) said he had asked Democratic Progressive Party official Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) to pass on his regards to the police officer on his behalf.
Liu was among six protesters from the pro-independence “908 Taiwan Republic” campaign who were detained and questioned on suspicion of public endangerment, obstruction of justice and assault.
All six were released on Thursday, with Liu on bail of NT$100,000 and Chou Ming-wen (周明文), a Christian pastor, on bail of NT$20,000.
FIREWORKS
TV footage of the incident showed what looked like Chen Chu-hsiang (陳諸想), a captain from the Taichung City Second Precinct, being pushed from the group’s protest truck on Wednesday night as he tried to stop the demonstrators setting off fireworks in the direction of the hotel where Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) was staying.
Chen sustained lacerations to his face and minor head injuries. He is a distant cousin of Lin.
Liu said he hoped Chen would recover soon, adding that he would visit the police officer after his release on bail.
Liu said he acted as he did because when a group of police boarded the truck, an officer choked him. After freeing himself, he automatically pushed in self-defense when he was approached by Chen.
Liu said he did not think at that moment that Chen would fall off the truck and be injured.
Prosecutors said the protesters had only breached administrative law by letting off fireworks. The prosecutors did not comment on whether the police had used excessive force in carrying out their duties.
Chou said Chen should have been more careful when climbing onto the truck, adding that the police didn’t need to act as they had.
DANGEROUS
Chou said the police should have followed standard procedure when trying to stop them, adding that it was wrong, extremely dangerous and unnecessary for the police to have jumped on a moving truck from all directions and to allegedly start kicking and choking people.
Taichung police yesterday denied using excessive force, saying officers only acted to stop the protesters after they ignored a verbal warning.
Meanwhile, Taichung’s Cheng Ching Hospital said yesterday that Chen was in a stable condition.
He would remain under observation before an assessment on whether he could be transferred to a regular ward today, the hospital said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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