The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday accused the government of using the Control Yuan for political persecution.
The remarks followed the Control Yuan requesting a judicial investigation of Control Yuan member Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) and former member Chang Wu-shou (張武修) after allegations that they leaked videos to the Taiwan Solidarity Union of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) being interviewed over 2014 allegations of “organ harvesting.”
The videos were recordings of Ko being questioned by Control Yuan members after allegations made by US author Ethan Gutmann that Ko had participated in harvesting organs of members of Falun Gong in China.
The TPP in a statement said that it strongly condemned the leaking of the videos of Ko, who is chairman of the party.
Since Kao and Chang were both nominated by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the TPP accused the Control Yuan of becoming a “secret government body” used to suppress dissent by opposition party members.
“Through this incident, the public has lost faith in both the Control Yuan and the government,” the TPP said. “Control Yuan President Chen Chu (陳菊) must take responsibility, explain the reasons for the leak and the intention of doing so.”
“If negligence by Control Yuan members is uncovered then Chen must make a public apology, or else people will see that the Control Yuan is acting to suppress political dissidents,” it said. “We also demand that the judiciary form a task force to investigate. It is most ironic that the Control Yuan recently set up the National Human Rights Commission [NHRC] and then this case happens.”
“The Democratic Progressive Party is using the apparatus of government to violate personal rights. This shows that the NHRC is just a facade, which duplicates the work of other agencies. We urge an internal investigation and that Kao, who is also NHRC deputy commissioner, resign from this position to show his willingness to take responsibility for the case,” it added.
Chang, when questioned during a Control Yuan internal investigation, denied leaking the videos and said that the material was kept by an investigating officer and he did not have a copy, sources said.
Kao agreed that the case should be investigated by the judiciary, the sources said.
The Control Yuan’s internal investigation found inconsistencies in Chang’s and Kao’s accounts, and an internal meeting voted to pass the case to the judiciary so that it could investigate possible breaches of the law, the sources added.
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