Taoyuan prosecutors have indicted a Jhongli District (中壢) police officer for allegedly throwing a female music teacher to the ground and handcuffing her after she refused to submit to questioning.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office had initially declined to press charges, but the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office ordered local authorities in December last year to conduct a second review after the music teacher, Chan Hui-ling (詹慧玲), filed an appeal.
On April 22 last year, a police officer, surnamed Yeh (葉), approached Chan as she was walking near Jhongli Railway Station and attempted to question her, asking her name, if she lived nearby and whether she was carrying identification.
Photo: CNA
When Chan asked why, the officer said he was worried “someone reported you missing” — apparently assuming she was an unaccounted-for migrant worker, a video of the encounter released by police shows.
A dispute broke out after Chan refused to answer Yeh, with Chan appearing to use the words “really stupid,” the video shows.
When the officer asked if she called him stupid, Chan replied: “What you did violated ...”
The officer interjected, saying: “Okay, well you’ve just called me stupid,” before the video clip stops a few seconds later.
However, videos of the subsequent moments taken by bystanders show Yeh throwing Chan to the ground and handcuffing her as she screams in panic.
He then places her under arrest for “obstructing a public official,” the video shows.
In Facebook posts after the incident, Chan argued that Yeh did not have grounds to question her, and accused him of abusing his power by slamming her to the ground, handcuffing her and holding her at a police station for questioning.
Prosecutors said in a news release yesterday that after conducting a second review of the evidence in the case, they had charged Yeh with offenses against personal freedom by a public official.
The Taoyuan Police Department’s Jhongli Precinct vowed to respect the judicial process, and to step up training to ensure officers carry out their duties legally and with a sense of proportionality.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS