Ten people were indicted yesterday by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office for vandalizing the Cihu Mausoleum by splashing red paint on Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) sarcophagus.
Prosecutors said the 10 were indicted on charges of publicly insulting a tomb and public memorial and obstructing officers from discharging their duties.
The 10, all members of a pro-independence group, threw the paint on Feb. 28 to mark the 71st anniversary of the 228 Incident in 1947.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
After they were arrested, the suspects said they cared about justice, especially transitional justice, and believed that true transitional justice would never happen as long as national resources continue to be spent on memorializing the Chiangs.
Though a transitional justice law was passed by the legislature in December last year to address the legacy of injustices left by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administrations, its regulations were based on principles and policies and should only be implemented through legitimate legal processes, prosecutors said.
Although any expression of political views or ideas falls under the scope of freedom of speech, and the right to freedom of expression should be guaranteed, such views or ideas should be expressed in legal ways, prosecutors said, adding that since the 10 addressed their political ideas by splashing paint, they did not adhere to legal processes.
The 10 are also suspected of contravening the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法) and the prosecutors’ office said it would notify the Taoyuan City Government, which would handle any administrative penalties.
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