Continued Regression in the Judiciary?

...and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was....

Since Ma came to power there has been a steady stream of complaints both at home and abroad that the judicial system seems to be deployed in the ruling party's favor, including letters from academics and experts abroad, and condemnation from foreign human rights organizations (oh, but you won't read that in any "why is Ma unpopular?" pieces in the foreign media). J Michael Cole ran an interesting piece in the Taipei Times the other day about yet another suggestive case.

“They didn’t have a warrant and had no cause to take him in,” Tsay’s counsel Billy Chen Da-cheng (陳達成) told the Taipei Times on Thursday. “This is the Legislative Yuan. There’s no need to apply for a permit to be there.”

Chen said that while footage shot by police, as well as 64 pictures, was submitted to the court, the judge relied solely on witnesses — police officers, as well as the driver of the vehicle with which Tsay collided at 4:08pm — to support the charges.

Prosecutors said Tsay “threw himself” at the vehicle, a claim that the footage does not support. While in court, the driver of the vehicle initially said Tsay had not thrown himself at the vehicle, only to retract his comment and claim that he did, Chen said.

Tsay and his counsels have laid charges against the police witnesses, the driver and the judge for what they claim was “fabricating evidence.”

“This is a clear example of how warped the judiciary has become under the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration,” Chen said.

Since Ma came to power, other cases involving police allegedly fabricating evidence — sometimes with judges fully cognizant that this was happening — have occurred, Chen said.

Tsay said he does not have any bad feelings toward the police.

“They privately told us they had the pressure from above, even if they could not find any wrongdoing in our activities. They are also victims of the oppressive system,” Tsay said.

J Michael has video links on his blog where additional information can be found. Tsay is not some lunatic but a credentialed scientist well known in his profession.
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