Three protesters yesterday barged into a news conference held by the pro-independence Northern Taiwan Society in Taipei and sprayed liquid at one of the attendees, Free Taiwan Party Chairman Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), in protest against a group of young independence supporters who hurled red paint on the sarcophagus of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) on Wednesday last week.
Tsay was not injured.
One of the protesters, surnamed Hu (胡), said that the substance he sprayed on Tsay was “a treatment for hair loss.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Yesterday’s news conference was held by participants of last week’s action at Chiang’s mausoleum in Taoyuan’s Tzuhu District (慈湖) and their lawyers.
Lo Yi (羅宜), one of ninee involved in last Wednesday’s action, said the group’s act was a call for the government to acknowledge that the tombs at Tzuhu and Dasi (大溪), which houses the body of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), represent worship of the past authoritarian regime of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Lo and the other participants wanted the government to cease funding the maintenance of the two mausoleums, he said, adding that their case should be tried according to the law and prosecutors should maintain their objectivity, not allowing their personal beliefs or political machinations to affect the case’s handling.
Photo: CNA
Our actions call for the implementation of transitional justice, and the removal of authoritarian regimes’ artifacts and relics, he said.
There were 10 people involved in that day’s action.
Lawyer Ho Chao-tung (何朝棟), who is representing the participants, told the news conference that their motives were pure and that the action falls under the principle of freedom of speech and was done to promote transitional justice, adding that he hoped Premier William Lai (賴清德) could persuade the ministry not to press charges.
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Father Cheng Kuo-chung (鄭國忠), also present at the news conference, called on Chiang descendants to inter the bodies of their ancestors as soon as possible, as the bodies — and the tombs — were a source of conflict within society.
In the middle of the news conference, three people charged inside the venue to heckle the event participants.
During the ensuing scuffle, Hu allegedly sprayed Tsay with a substance that he later claimed was for treating hair loss.
Police later took the trio to Zhongzheng First Precinct for allegedly trespassing and illegally entering private property.
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