Top officials at sports associations are resorting to litigation to silence the young campaigners who have led a sports reform movement to demand transparency and accountability, New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said yesterday.
Lim accused the Sports Administration of negligence and inaction on the “revenge litigation” against campaigners, many of whom are athletes pushing for change and an overhaul of the autocratic system.
He made the comments at a media briefing where Angelo Chang (張祐銓), a volleyball player and one of the spokesmen for sports reform group Fair Game! Taiwan! (體育改革聯會), revealed he had been named in a lawsuit filed by the Chinese Taipei Swimming Association (CTSA) following earlier litigation against him by the Chinese Taipei Volleyball Association (CTVA).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Chang said he was sued for allegedly leaking CTSA and CTVA membership lists and related private information, which the two associations claim was a contravention of the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
The membership lists were presented at news briefings which Chang and other campaigners from Fair Game! Taiwan! held to expose the corrupt “vote-buying” practices and “proxy voters” controlled by a few individuals so that the old entrenched forces would win sports association elections, including the positions of chairperson, board members and supervisors, he said.
“When the summons arrived asking me to appear for questioning at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, I knew it had to do with my sports reform efforts. I appeared as instructed on Thursday last week and found out that the CTSA had filed a lawsuit against me,” said Chang, who is a New Taipei City councilor candidate for the NPP in November’s elections.
Chang said it was the second such lawsuit concerning allegations of leaking a membership list.
He was accused of contravening the Personal Information Protection Act by the CTVA in February, handcuffed and taken away by police officers.
He spent that night being questioned by prosecutors at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
“I am very angry about the litigation against me,” Chang said, “Why is everything fine for the sports associations, who used underhanded tactics to manipulate the elections, while a young man like myself, an advocate of reform to fight against injustice and corrupt practices, gets handcuffed and taken away?” he asked.
The sports reform movement would likely be seen as a failure, Lim said, since the elections at most of the organizations it targeted were still manipulated.
“We are very disappointed with the Sports Administration over its negligence and inaction throughout these developments, and for the double standards it showed in helping entrenched sports officials stay in power, while remaining silent on these ‘revenge litigation’ cases against advocates of reform,” Lim said.
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