Bail for paint suspects lambasted

LAM WING-KEI INCIDENT: The former Hong Kong bookseller said that despite the oppression of China, many people voted for a candidate willing to stand with Beijing

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 25, 2020
By: Chung Li-hua and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The bail set for suspects who allegedly threw red paint at former Causeway Bay Books manager Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) was tantamount to encouraging such acts of violence, academics said yesterday.

After the incident in Taipei on Tuesday, the three suspects were released the following day by the Taipei District Court after posting bail of NT$6,000 to NT$20,000 (US$199 to US$665), although the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office appealed the decision.

At a forum held by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association yesterday, Taiwan Thinktank consultant Tung Li-wen (董立文) said that paint throwing is not the same as a regular civil or criminal case, so the mild penalties were “fuel for the formidable Chinese forces in Taiwan.”

Paint-throwing attacks are often orchestrated based on political motives, not personal feuds, and they can easily create a sense of fear in society, Tung said, adding that such cases should be handled according to the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法).
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