The Taipei District Court on Saturday acquitted a man who was charged after burning the Republic of China (ROC) flag on the grounds that his act was a form of constitutionally protected speech.
Lee Chia-yu (李嘉宇) was accused by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office of inciting others to contravene Article 118 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits destroying, damaging or pulling down the national flag or emblem in public for the purpose of insulting the nation, the court said.
The flag-burning occurred during a march on the evening of Feb. 27 last year near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, the court said, adding that the pro-independence Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign organized the event to commemorate the 228 Incident.
The 228 Incident refers to protesters being shot by security personnel on Feb. 28, 1949, initiating a series of government crackdowns that marked the beginning of the White Terror era.
Allegedly, Lee told the crowd to light a flag on fire at 9:47pm and another unidentified man provided the demonstrators with a flag that had been prepared for that purpose, the court said.
Lee denied the charges and told the court that the prosecutors had failed to prove that the burned object was actually the ROC flag, or that he intended to insult the nation, the court said.
The court quoted Lee as saying that his intent was to demonstrate that the ROC is not the nation of the Taiwanese, who should create their own state by declaring Taiwan’s independence.
While the court rejected Lee’s assertions that no actual flag was burned, he clearly stated to the court that the burning was a symbolic expression of a political view, which is deemed a highly protected class of speech by the constitution, the presiding judge wrote in the ruling.
The verdict is not final and the case could be retried in a higher court.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
RSS