Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before.
Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute.
Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat.
Photo: CNA
Lee said today that this is a serious international scandal and called on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) to give a statement.
Wearing a Nazi armband symbolizes racial discrimination and persecution of human rights, he said.
As chair of the KMT, Chu should apologize for Sung’s actions, Lee said, adding that if he does not apologize, it shows support for his behavior.
Chu this morning said that various forms of protest are being used to satirize the DPP’s authoritarianism.
People have begun calling the DPP “green communists,” showing their opposition to unjust recalls and the DPP’s tyranny, he said.
DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said on Facebook that this is no longer a domestic political issue, but an international issue and the KMT should sincerely apologize.
The German Institute Taipei on Facebook said it was “shocked” to see the use of Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims.
It condemned the incident “in the strongest possible terms,” and thanked the Taiwanese public for their concern.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the "extremely inappropriate" way of expressing an opinion, calling on the public to refrain from actions that offend the people of other nations and tarnish Taiwan's image.
Nazi ideology led to the Holocaust, and related symbols are reviled around the world, including in Taiwan, it said.
Prosecutors said in a news release that they are investigating alleged forgery in recall petitions against DPP legislators Lee, Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧), Wu Chi-ming (吳琪銘) and Chang Hung-lu (張宏陸).
After analyzing petition information from the Central Election Commission and New Taipei City Election Commission, they said they found evidence of possible forgery and contraventions of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
They directed the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau to search 30 locations, including residences and party offices of suspects in Banciao (板橋), Sanchong (三重) and Yingge (鶯歌) districts.
As of yesterday evening, more than 20 people had been brought in for questioning, local media reported.
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