Police Excessive Force and the Reappearance of the Garrison Command's Ghost—JRF Files a Criminal Complaint at the Prosecutors Office Against Beitou Precinct Chief Li Han-ch'ing

On the evening of November 4, Li Han-ch'ing, Chief of the Beitou Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department, served as the on-site security commander for a banquet held at the Ambassador Hotel on Chungshan North Road, Taipei City, by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) President Ch'en Yun-lin and Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan. Without applying to the competent court for a search warrant, Li unlawfully entered Joy Audio International Co., Ltd. located at the intersection of Chungshan North Road and Minsheng East Road, forcibly searched the company's broadcasting equipment, and demanded that the company stop playing music. Furthermore, without any legal basis, he commanded police officers on-site to use coercion and threats to force the company to pull down its rolling shutters, thereby obstructing the company's exercise of its right to do business. His actions clearly violated Article 307 (unlawful search) and Article 304 (compulsion) of the Criminal Code. In addition, because he acted as a public official who intentionally committed a crime by abusing the powers of his office, he also committed the offense of malfeasance in office pursuant to Article 134 of the Criminal Code.

During Mr. Ch'en Yun-lin's visit to Taiwan, a succession of excessive security measures have infringed upon the fundamental human rights of the people. The victims of these successive incidents include not only ordinary citizens but also media workers. Given how the police have used excessive enforcement to suppress the people's freedom of speech and personal liberty, we believe it is imperative to seek through judicial avenues a human rights environment that the populace does not need to fear. Otherwise, these security incidents will not remain isolated cases; rather, they will expand to endanger the fundamental human rights of all citizens, creating a disorienting sense of regression into the martial-law era of the Garrison Command.

In response, the Judicial Reform Foundation, together with the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Taiwan Labour Front, Association for Yan-Pen Educational Foundation, and the Green Party, jointly filed a criminal complaint today at 16:00 at the Taipei District Prosecutors Office. Attorney Lin Feng-cheng, Executive Director of the JRF, rang the prosecution bell to file the complaint against Beitou Precinct Chief Li Han-ch'ing, using legal action to denounce this instance of excessive police enforcement.

Following the filing of the complaint, Attorney Lin Feng-cheng told the media that the police cannot barge into a store to conduct searches or turn off music without a search warrant, and certainly should not forcibly enter a store to demand that business owners close down. Addressing media reports citing police claims that the store owners themselves turned off the music and pulled down the shutters, Attorney Lin refuted these statements, pointing out that side-recorded video discs serve as evidence. He criticized the police claims as untruthful and strongly pointed out that the current Ma administration is rolling back Taiwan's democracy and human rights, alarmingly recreating the police state of the former martial law era.