Taiwan Rural Front chairman Hsu Shih-jung (徐世榮) yesterday filed a lawsuit against the National Security Bureau (NSB) and the Datong District police for illegal arrests and the falsification of evidence during a July 23 protest in Taipei against forced evictions and demolitions in Miaoli County’s Dapu Brough (大埔) last month.
Hsu, a professor of land economics at National Chengchi University, was dragged away by police officers during a protest against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare before being taken to a police station.
Police said they had arrested him for offenses against public safety and for obstructing official business, though he was released later in the evening due to “lack of evidence.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
In the days following the protest, Central Police University associate professor Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) said that Hsu had attempted to ram Ma’s motorcade and that he had asked that officers take him to a police station, claims that Hsu has categorically denied.
Hsu maintains that the protest was peaceful and that all he did was to shout slogans at Ma’s motorcade as it approached the ministry building.
Witnesses at the scene, including this correspondent, who was standing next to Hsu as he was taken away by police officers, support his version of events.
Video footage of the incident made available on the Internet also shows a plainclothes officer identifying and singling out Hsu, before ordering police officers to take him away.
Hsu, along with Hung Chung-yen (洪崇晏), a philosophy student at National Taiwan University who sustained injuries to his head during clashes with police, pressed charges against NSB Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝), Datong police investigation brigade officer Lai Jun-yao (賴俊堯) and Datong Branch station director Ou Yang-jun (歐陽俊) for illegal and arbitrary arrest, fabrication of charges, injury and defamation, among others.
At a press conference outside the Taipei District Court yesterday morning, Hsu said the abuses of power by the bureau and the police, including illegal arrests and cooked-up charges, had crossed a constitutionally drawn “red line” guaranteeing freedom of expression and the right of assembly.
Hundreds of lawyers have signed a petition supporting Hsu in the case and several have offered their services pro bono to assist him with the case.
In related developments, student groups that have joined a series of protests targeting officials in the Ma Cabinet were shocked on Thursday night when a police officer showed up armed with an assault rifle during a candlelit vigil near the home of Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻).
Liu, who has faced severe criticism for his handling of the Dapu demolitions, told a forum last week that while it is the responsibility of public officials to be benevolent, they must also have the ability to adopt strongman tactics when acting in the public interest.
Asked for the reasons why a police officer was carrying an assault rifle at a peaceful protest by students, the Miaoli County police department said the decision had been made after “a careful assessment of the situation.”
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective