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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》Ko touts ‘surgical’ wiretapping in exceptional cases
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, right, receives a gift from British Minister of State for Transport Baroness Susan Kramer in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
‘REPORT LATER’: Taipei’s mayor said that fugitives could escape officers who take time to comply with regulations on security and communication
By Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
Exceptional circumstances warrant exceptions to the wiretapping permit system, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） said yesterday.
“While rights should be protected, there are some exceptional circumstances which ought to be considered,” Ko said, adding that under the current law, applying for wiretapping permits can take more than two days, leaving time for suspects to go into hiding or leave the nation.
Ko’s remarks follow the arrest of double-murder suspect Chen Fu-hsiang （陳福祥） on Saturday. In their final report, Taipei police officers investigating the case in the capital’s Wanhua District （萬華） described applying for wiretap permits as a major hindrance to the investigation, Ko said.
He said that under exceptional circumstances, police officers should be allowed to “act first, report later,” turning in the required report and going through the administrative process after they begin wiretapping.
“Normally, surgery requires a signed letter of agreement, but often we open people up without one,” Ko said. “If we waited on family members [to be contacted and sign a letter of agreement], the patient would die in the intensive care unit.”
He said he had instructed the police department to hold talks with the Ministry of Justice to draft a list of such possible exceptions.
The mayor’s remarks contrasted with the Communication Security and Surveillance Act （通訊保障及監察法） passed by the Legislative Yuan in January last year, which tightened restrictions on wiretapping in the wake of a controversy over the recording of a conversation between Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng （王金平） and Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） caucus whip Ker Chien-ming （柯建銘）.
On Sunday, Ko compared imposing excessively strict regulations as a result of the controversy to “not eating for fear of choking.”
Ko’s remarks drew a strong response from members of the DPP.
“That someone who reveres Chiang Ching-kuo （蔣經國）, advocates putting efficiency above everything else and delights in being viewed as a ‘harsh official’ would be willing to sacrifice procedures which guarantee human rights for the sake of speeding up case processing is not at all surprising,” DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang （段宜康） said on Facebook, comparing Ko to former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming （黃世銘）, who was forced out of office after being convicted of charges related to the Wang tapping case.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
