318 Anniversary Record: People Return to Parliament, Democracy Grows Up—Short Speech by the Volunteer Lawyers Group

Today is a wonderful opportunity to report to everyone on the litigation status undertaken by the Volunteer Lawyers Group over the past year, as well as the directions and main demands we will continue to strive for:

Do friends remember that in the early morning of March 24 last year, a Dr. Wang was beaten on the abdomen by riot police in the Executive Yuan compound, and then his head was severely struck with a baton? Dr. Wang collapsed, unconscious, and kept having convulsions. This horrifying footage was continuously broadcast across major media outlets at the time.

There was also a 76-year-old elderly man named Chou, who due to his age was unable to leave immediately when armed police forces arrived, yet was clubbed, kicked, struck with riot shields, and hit with high-pressure water jets by police officers, resulting in fractured ribs and abdominal hematoma.

Regarding victims subjected to such state violence, the Volunteer Lawyers Group has accepted over forty cases (though we believe the actual number of victims subjected to state violence that day is far higher than this figure). Over the past year, the Volunteer Lawyers Group assisted the victims in filing private prosecutions with the court and requested the court to preserve the evidence. The purpose is to hold Chiang I-hua, who ordered the clearance of the Executive Yuan, as well as Wang Cho-chun, Huang Sheng-yung, Fang Yang-ning and others who executed the orders, criminally responsible.

Photo / Please Judges Stand with the People! ~ State Violence, Please Judges Preserve Evidence First Press Conference

Regrettably, our Supreme Court actually deemed that the two cases of Elder Chou and Dr. Wang belonged to the "same case," and consequently made a "dismissal" decision on the subsequent accusation by Dr. Wang, leaving Dr. Wang's case with nowhere to turn for help. In response, the Volunteer Lawyers Group will file a petition for constitutional interpretation with the Grand Justices, and will never abandon the determination to pursue accountability for state violence. This is because we worry that once the Supreme Court's interpretation is established, the impact will extend not only to all victims of the 324 Executive Yuan cases, but even more gravely: henceforth, if state violence generates cases with numerous victims, as long as someone "first" files a private prosecution, all other victims will automatically lose the right to initiate private prosecutions! The court judgment is tantamount to depriving the people of their right to litigation guaranteed by the Constitution, granting unreasonable differential treatment among different victims, while concurrently shielding and abetting these perpetrators.

Secondly, before the Lunar New Year, as many as 118 citizens who participated in the 318 Movement received indictments from the prosecutors office. Upholding our previous commitment, the Volunteer Lawyers Group will continue to assist these indicted individuals with the legal proceedings they will face in court, and appeal to the judges handling such cases to realize that this is not merely a routine criminal case of unlawful intrusion or obstruction of justice; this is a rule-of-law defense movement against undemocratic, behind-the-scenes legislative procedures, a civic awakening movement standing up to safeguard Taiwan's hard-won democratic fruits, and furthermore, a civil disobedience movement manifesting the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty. Therefore, the presiding judges should adjudicate these cases from a constitutional height rather than merely standing from the perspective of criminal law; otherwise, they will be reduced to hatchet men for those in power to purge dissidents.

In particular, we cannot tolerate that while the prosecutors office applies very lenient criteria in determining the elements of citizens obstructing justice and arbitrarily indicts movement participants, it dares not proactively investigate those in power who condoned police officers resorting to lynch law. Therefore, we will continue to work hard, through judicial adjudication, to give this movement a clear accounting in history!

Next, on behalf of the Volunteer Lawyers Group, I would like to especially thank the following groups of friends who fought shoulder to shoulder with us:

First, I believe that friends present here have more or less invested in social movement or reform experience. Perhaps you are not in the core of the decision-making circle and do not have the spotlight of magnesium lamps, but you have quietly worked hard, adhered to your beliefs, and been willing to execute many unapplauded, seemingly trivial administrative tasks. You are truly, truly, truly great! And are there such people within our Volunteer Lawyers Group? Yes! They are the volunteer assistants who laboriously engaged in the preparatory and liaison work for the litigation cases. Most of them come from law students still studying in various universities, or passionate youths harboring ideals just like everyone seated here. Their selfless assistance has made the operation and meetings of the Volunteer Lawyers Group much more efficient. Here, I hope to borrow everyone's hands to give some applause to yourselves and these unsung heroes!

Photo / Meeting of the Social Movement Lawyers Volunteer Assistant Group

Secondly, thank you also to the many scholars and experts who have cared about this issue over the past year. By holding academic seminars or writing vigorously in various ways, they have provided courts, prosecutors offices, and lawyers with resonant legal opinions, giving us another opportunity to deeply reflect on how we should view this movement, as well as what deficiencies still exist in current laws and the necessity of promoting legal amendments.

Finally, our Volunteer Lawyers Group wants to deeply thank every single client in the cases we handle—whether they are brave individuals willing to step forward to denounce state violence, or movement participants courageous enough to face legal responsibility. This is because every single court appearance is not only an expenditure of labor, time, and money, but recounting the process of the incident in court may be tantamount to reopening layers of seemingly healing scars. Moreover, to our knowledge, many people may have to face misunderstandings or questioning from numerous friends and relatives upon receiving court summonses. Therefore, we are deeply moved and admire that without your courage and persistence, the justice anticipated in the hearts of us legal professionals cannot be realized, nor can the future of this country possibly become better.