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Taiwanese Authorities Illegally Disclose the Civil Media Worker’sPersonal Information

As the leaders of the world's largest economies gathered for the Group of Eight (G8) summit at the northern island of Hokkaido, the civil media from all over the world was ready to capture the protest rally and to hear what the demonstrators shout for. While the mainstream media only focused on the achievement of a few strong economies and neglected the harm from unevenly distributing the resources and depicting the protesters as villains, the civil media insisted on uncovering the evil essence of those strong powers.

Em, two Taiwanese independent media workers representing the Civil Media Database, who were going to Japan to report on the protest to the 2008 G8 summit, were visited by the police from the Hsin-Dian Police Precinct. The police said that “the protest is a sensitive issue and it is against the law.” By researching the information system, they found out Em’s personal information. And the authorities concerned to ask the police to further the investigation of Em.

The freedom of speech and the publication of the media are protected by the Constitution. It is hard to accept that the police made such a one-sided judgment that the people involved in the protest against the G8 in Japan would very likely be rascals disturbing the order. What’s worse, one’s personal information could be released without any proof of his illegal behavior. The police didn’t only want to pay a visit but also try to pressure Em and their family, so Em might withdraw from their original plan. From this case, we are surprised that the past 10-year reform on human rights values and the freedom of speech can be easily challenged by the governmental institutions.

We, the Civil Media Database, Taiwan Media Watch, and Taiwan Association for Human rights, hereby express our strong protest and kindly remind our authorities concerned and the intelligence department of taking “public security and administration by law” as an excuse to play on the terror-causing moves violating the fundamental human rights protected by the Constitution. We ask the government to fully respect the freedom of speech and the independence of the civil media in accordance of human rights instead of interfering without any legal reason.