Taipei prosecutors yesterday summoned historical documents collector Hu Chien-ping (胡建平) for questioning amid a judicial investigation into last month’s warrantless search of a civilian residence by military police that led to a political firestorm and apologies from Ministry of Defense officials.
Investigators sought information from Hu, a consultant for Rebirth.com — who claimed he is in possession of more than 1,000 documents and photographs relating to White Terror-era cases — regarding how and where he acquired such a large collection.
The probe moved into a new phase this week, as prosecutors indicted 12 military personnel on Wednesday over an allegedly illegal search of the private residence of a man surnamed Wei (魏) in New Taipei City without obtaining a search warrant, in which they seized three White Terror-era documents that had been offered for sale on Rebirth.com.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
After the questioning session yesterday, Hu told reporters that he “gave a clear account” of how he obtained the documents and of the sale of the three documents to Wei.
“In April last year, I purchased about 2,000 to 3,000 of these documents, paying a total of NT$300,000 for them,” Hu said.
“From those, I picked three for sale, selling them to Wei for a total of NT$8,000 and giving him two receipts for the transaction,” Hu said. “I had sold stuff to Wei before.”
“I collect such materials, purchasing and selling more than 10,000 documents per year,” Hu said.
“To my knowledge, and from my experience in the trade, the three documents in question bought by Wei were definitely not stolen,” he added.
“This was clear when I purchased them last year,” Hu said.
He said he also obtained top-level classified documents that were from the Presidential Office and other documents from the office of the governor during the Japanese colonial era.
“Some of the materials go back a long way and I had no problem getting them. So I don’t know why the military was so anxious to get their hands on the three documents bought by Wei,” Hu said.
Usually sellers do not tell him the source of the material, as it is proprietary trade information, Hu said, adding that he does not ask sellers where items come from.
Claiming concern for his safety after the extensive media coverage of the case, Hu earlier this month spoke on TV talk shows about the situation.
Hu said he gave a cardboard box of documents to TV show host Peng Wen-cheng (彭文正) and several Democratic Progressive Party politicians for them to look after.
Hu arrived at the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office wearing a Tang Dynasty-style suit with his white hair tied up in a bun, which netizens said made him look like a character out of a Chinese martial arts novel.
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