The Legal Aid Foundation yesterday said it has formed a defense team of 100 lawyers to provide legal consultation and assistance to victims and their families after last month’s water park fire.
Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成), a human rights lawyer and law professor at National Taiwan University, is to head the defense team.
Participating lawyers are volunteering their time and expertise to deal with litigation expected to be initiated following the fire at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City, Lo said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The federation’s 21 chapters nationwide would contact the families of victims who live in their regions to provide legal assistance and consultation, he added.
Among the team’s main aims are suing event organizers in civil court for financial compensation and ensuring that those responsible for the disaster are held liable for medical expenses and recovery costs, while also considering whether to file suits for state compensation.
The mother of Liu Chih-wei (劉致葦), the disaster’s second fatality, and Lin Wei (林緯), elder brother of burn victim Lin Yi (林誼), attended the event yesterday to thank the foundation and the defense team.
Liu’s mother said she hopes all the victims and their families can work together to seek justice and to demand that the government and organizers shoulder their responsibility for the incident and work to prevent the recurrence of such a disaster.
Liu Chih-wei, 19, a freshman at Taipei College of Maritime Technology, died of his injuries on Thursday.
“Before my son died, I held his hand and told him it was not his fault — the people responsible for what happened are the organizers,” she said, sobbing. “Why did I lose a son like that? This is too painful for families to bear.”
Lin Wei said that over the past week he has seen event organizers, water park operators and the New Taipei City Government attempt to shift the blame around and evade their responsibilities.
“These people are guilty and they should be held liable,” he said.
Foundation chairman Lin Chun-jung (林春榮) said the group was able to organize the legal defense team only because the amended Legal Services Act (法律扶助法) goes into effect this week, which includes provisions for the foundation to provide legal assistance in “cases of social significance and of great public interest.”
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