‘No tolerance for violence’, says mayor after threats

• By Kan Meng-linand Jonathan Chin / Staff Reporter, with Staff Writer

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday that the city “will not tolerate violence” after the Taipei City Council reported death threats following a planned screening today of a documentary on alleged forced organ harvesting in China.

The council’s report follows a wave of similar threats against theaters and institutions showing the documentary, titled State Organs, which accuses Chinese officials of harvesting organs from detained dissidents and Falun Gong members.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors who planned to screen the film told a news conference earlier yesterday that the screening’s organizers had received a knife attack threat signed by a person identifying himself as Lee Hung-shan (李洪山).

Photo: Screenshot from the State Organs Facebook page

Taipei Police Department Xinyi District police have recommended that the Taipei Public Prosecution Service investigate the case, Chiang told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

The city firmly defends freedom of expression and will not tolerate violence or threats, he said.

“Lee” used the event’s Google Drive registration form to make the threat and reserved 10 seats, said DPP councilor Hung Chien-yi (洪健益), who organized the display.

“This threat is an attack on our city’s highest democratic institution and the public’s right to be informed,” Hung said.

The Taipei Municipal Council’s DPP caucus would not bow to threats of violence and would resolutely uphold the inalienable rights of Taiwanese, Hung said, adding that Chiang had been invited to attend the display.

The caucus informed police about the incident and filed a complaint seeking legal action, the report said.

Lion Studio, the documentary’s local distributor, has been receiving threatening letters since October 3, studio representative Kuan Chien-chung (管建忠) said.

The studios and cinemas showing the film have received more than 40 threatening messages, prompting some cinemas to cancel screenings, Kuan said.

The Kaohsiung Municipal Council also received death threats, said Taipei DPP Municipal Councilor Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳).

“The people making the threats should stop hiding behind their computers,” Yen said.

Police launched an investigation on Wednesday after Taipei city council members filed a criminal complaint and would secure Taipei City Hall with 51 officers, said Tsen I-chun (曾逸群), head of the Xinyi Precinct Investigation Unit.