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Anti-SID protest draws media
personalities
By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
Former TVBS vice president Ge
Shu-ren, second row, third right, originator of the anti-government protest
scheduled to take place tomorrow, and veteran actress Kuo Mei-chu, second row,
second right, and others demand that Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming step
down during a protest outside the Special Investigation Division’s headquarters
in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Media and show business personalities
yesterday joined other protesters in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office
Special Investigation Division (SID) to demand the resignation of
Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), who had allegedly approved the use of
illegal wiretaps.
Huang reportedly met with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 to
discuss the alleged improper lobbying by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) of former minister of justice Tseng
Yung-fu (曾勇夫), High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌)
and High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤) on behalf of
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
Though an investigation into Wang’s actions had been closed without charges
being filed and only administrative penalties have been suggested for him, the
public and the DPP had been angered at what they called the “illegal grounds” of
the division’s wiretapping of the phone lines of Wang, Ker and others.
Former TVBS vice president Ge Shu-ren (葛樹人) and actress Kuo Mei-chu (郭美珠) took
part in the protest, along with the 929 protest event spokesperson Ryan Wu (吳睿穎)
and others dressed in black — an allusion to police covert activities — to
protest Huang’s allegations against Ker.
The SID initially responded to the protest by pulling down the metal doors that
block off the hallway to its office, but after Kuo took off her shoes and
started using them to hammer the door — an act that encouraged other protestors
to try to manually raise the doors — the SID completely shut the door, while
police officers formed a wall and started to push the protesters back.
Ge then calmed tensions by urging the protesters not to become irate over the
matter and led the crowd in chanting slogans.
Ge said that he was against using personal influence for lobbying, but the crux
of the issue lay not with Wang’s lobbying for Ker, but rather how the SIC
handled its investigation.
The public cannot accept the division’s blatant wiretapping and infringement of
rights, Ge said.
Ge also said that an anti-Ma protest scheduled for tomorrow would include a
“wall” on which participants could vent their frustration.
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