The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it has ordered a criminal investigation after eight police officers were injured during a rally hosted by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Saturday.
Prosecutors are investigating potential obstruction of official duty, coercion and violence or threats against public officials on duty, the National Police Agency (NPA) said in a news release last night.
An estimated 1,000 protesters clashed with police and ignored warnings to disband an unlawful assembly, while some pushed officers and damaged police barriers, the agency said, strongly condemning the incident.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The rally contravened the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), as the organizers did not apply for a permit in advance, police said.
The rally was held on the one-year anniversary of a raid on the residence of then-TPP chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is currently being held incommunicado on corruption charges.
Police requested the group to disperse at 8:16am, which became an order at 9:25am.
While tensions eased at about 12:30pm, the rally continued onto the president’s residence, where a representative received a petition from Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪).
The Ministry of the Interior said that evidence had been collected by the Taipei Police Department to pursue charges of obstructing official duties, coercion and contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), which would be forwarded to prosecutors.
Rally participants are liable to prosecution under the Criminal Code, including contraventions of Article 135, which prohibits threats or violence against a public official on duty and carries a sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to NT$300,000, the ministry said.
Misinformation was also spread online in relation to the rally, including images of police officers’ facial expressions generated by artificial intelligence, which seriously misled the public and would be handled in a separate investigation, it added.
The NPA said it immediately dispatched personnel to assist the injured officers and provide medical support, adding that it would ensure they would be given adequate treatment and rest following the incident.
TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Facebook yesterday accused President William Lai (賴清德) of “walking the road to dictatorship.”
Huang criticized the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of previously calling to abolish the Assembly and Parade Act and “return the streets to the people,” only to crack down on public protests and enforce road blockades once they took power.
“Bring it on, Emperor Lai. I vow to overthrow tyranny,” he wrote.
Ko was indicted on Dec. 26 last year on four charges, including allegedly misappropriating slush funds of about NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) during his presidential campaign and giving preferential treatment to a developer in a real-estate project, with the total alleged amount in the case exceeding NT$93.71 million.
Ko maintains his innocence.
Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan
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