The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it would respect prosecutors’ decision not to charge former Polish Office in Taipei acting head Bartosz Rys after investigating an accusation that he had sexually assaulted a woman.
A woman surnamed Lai on Saturday on Facebook accused Rys of forcefully hugging her, despite her repeated rejections, and of sexually assaulting her in September last year.
“I did not scream, cry, kick or attack. I did not run either, I stayed,” Lai said, adding that her mind went blank and she could not move her body.
Photo courtesy of the Polish Office in Taipei via CNA
The prosecutors said in the indictment that Lai did not take any action about the alleged offense against her sexual autonomy when she was able to move freely, she said.
The Taipei City Government’s Women’s and Children’s Protection Division notified the ministry about the alleged incident in November last year, the ministry said.
Rys said on Twitter on Saturday night that prosecutors from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office have investigated the incident and decided not to pursue the case.
During the investigation, Lai asked for NT$2.5 million (US$81,367) in exchange for withdrawing the charges, Rys said, adding: “I cannot rule out that this is an allegation for money.”
In a later post, Lai said that she was not lying.
The ministry yesterday said it would offer assistance based on the Taiwan-Poland Criminal Justice Cooperation Agreement if international judicial cooperation is required.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office asked the ministry about Rys’ scope of immunity and decided that diplomatic immunity did not apply, as he was only exempted while performing official duties, it said.
The ministry said it would stay in contact with representative offices in Taiwan and promote judicial cooperation to protect the rights of Taiwanese.
Separately, the ministry said it would launch an administrative investigation into accusations of sexual harassment against former representative to the Philippines Michael Hsu (徐佩勇) and submit it to a performance review meeting.
The ministry said it contacted the accuser by e-mail, informing them about the complaint procedure and expressing its willingness to provide assistance, but so far has received no response.
The first priority in handling the case is to protect the privacy of the accuser and respect their wishes, it said, adding that the accused has not filed charges against Hsu.
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