Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) has been listed as a potential suspect in an investigation into his alleged misuse of an audio recording at the Legislative Yuan, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office said today.
During a hearing of the legislature's Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee on Monday, Huang questioned Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) about whether it was proper for prosecutors to threaten suspects during interrogations.
He first asked Cheng what crime would be committed if a person publicly played an audio recording of an interrogation, to which the minister answered "an offense against the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法)."
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
Huang then asked Cheng what the case would be if the recording contained audio evidence of legal authorities using a threatening tone or insulting language toward a suspect during an interrogation.
Cheng asked Huang to define the terms "threatening tone" and "insulting language."
Huang then played a recording of what sounded like a prosecutor interrogating a suspect using a harsh tone.
Prior to Huang playing the audio, Cheng warned him not to play privileged investigative materials in an open hearing.
In the recording, a woman could be heard questioning a man, addressed only as Mr Chu (朱), in a harsh tone.
"They have never used clear language and they have never included you?" the woman asked.
"Have they never included you or did they stop including you after 2018?" she then asked, to which Chu replied: "2018."
"So that is not 'never.' Never is not even once," the woman said.
Chu then apologized.
"What are you saying, Mr Chu?" the woman asked.
"Listen to yourself. Are you worthy of the heart you once possessed?" she said before the recording ended.
When Cheng criticized Huang for publicly playing confidential material, the TPP chairman said that he had never said the recording was from an interrogation.
The tape was an "illustrative example" of a "threatening tone and insulting language," Huang said.
The Taipei Prosecutors' Office said it had received calls from members of the public reporting Huang for alleged counterfeiting, without elaborating.
Huang today told local media that having counterfeit claims filed against him was not his first brush with the legal system, and he encouraged prosecutors to launch a probe as soon as possible.
Huang said he was unafraid of the investigation and criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of overreach, saying he expected it to mobilize the media and authorities against him.
Meanwhile, DPP lawmakers today proposed a motion to refer Huang to the legislature's Discipline Committee for his actions.
DPP legislators said that Huang did not reveal the source of the audio on the tape and questioned whether the material came into Huang's possession legally.
The motion was later dismissed after TPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers voted against it.
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