Shih Ming-teh (施明德), together with other 16, were ruled "not guilty" on 2/20/09 by Taipei District Court for launching the anti-Chen siege without pre-approval in 2006, which is a clear violation of Assembly and Parade Act (APA, 集會遊行法).
The APA says that any parade or demonstration should be approved by the police 6 days in advance. But Shih's large-scale anti-Chen protest, aka Red Army, did not get the approval for their extended large-scale protest.
It's a clear violation, but Ma Ying-jeou, Taipei Mayor at that time, didn't shy away from their illegal actions. Instead, the "you-should-follow-the-law" Ma sent breakfast to Shih's headquarters and allowed the Red Army to use the public area in front of Taipei Train Station illegally, causing a lot of troubles for daily traffic.
Even worse, Ma abused his Mayor power to press Taipei police chief Wang Cho-chun (王卓鈞) to ignore APA and to grant the Red Army "legalized on-site" (就地合法), causing not so minor confrontations between Mayor Ma and Taipei police. ( 假學運馬支持 真學運馬不屑)
To exonerate the illegal Red Army, the court sentence issued yesterday says:
It seems to be normal in Taiwan to use the absolute power to interpret the law in favor of your case -- especially when it is the "legalized-on-site" supported by Ma Ying-jeou.
The APA says that any parade or demonstration should be approved by the police 6 days in advance. But Shih's large-scale anti-Chen protest, aka Red Army, did not get the approval for their extended large-scale protest.
It's a clear violation, but Ma Ying-jeou, Taipei Mayor at that time, didn't shy away from their illegal actions. Instead, the "you-should-follow-the-law" Ma sent breakfast to Shih's headquarters and allowed the Red Army to use the public area in front of Taipei Train Station illegally, causing a lot of troubles for daily traffic.
Even worse, Ma abused his Mayor power to press Taipei police chief Wang Cho-chun (王卓鈞) to ignore APA and to grant the Red Army "legalized on-site" (就地合法), causing not so minor confrontations between Mayor Ma and Taipei police. ( 假學運馬支持 真學運馬不屑)
To exonerate the illegal Red Army, the court sentence issued yesterday says:
判決指出，倒扁集會雖未經許可，或造成民眾些許不便，但確實引起許多迴響，仍在民主社會得以忍受之範圍，國家自應予以尊重。
Although the anti-Chen assembly was not approved, and it might have caused some inconvenience of people, but it did have some support, so it is within the tolerable range of a democratic country. As a result, the state should pay respect.
It seems to be normal in Taiwan to use the absolute power to interpret the law in favor of your case -- especially when it is the "legalized-on-site" supported by Ma Ying-jeou.
