TAIWAN - The Taipei Prosecutors Office is seeking a 4 year
prison term for entertainer Makiyo under aggravated assault
charges, yesterday evening, while continuing the investigation over
whether the police had intentionally covered up the video footage
that revealed Makiyo kicking a taxi driver, which functioned as a
key piece of evidence in the assault case, yesterday.
The Taipei Prosecutors Office said yesterday that it is
currently determining whether the Taipei Xinyi District Police
Office had intentionally delayed turning in the crucial video
footage taken by a taxi driver, surnamed Chiang, who was a witness
of the entire incident.
Police Under Fire
The police may be charged with offenses of destroying criminal
evidence and potentially of disclosing evidence to the media, it
said.
The video footage recorded by the onboard camera in Chiang's cab
seems to reveal that Makiyo in fact had joined her Japanese friend
Takateru Tomoyori in attacking a taxi driver, surnamed Lin,
contrary to her previous claims of merely watching as the dispute
developed and worsened.
Chiang had originally handed the footage to a police officer
from the Sanmin Branch of the Songshan District Police Office on
Feb. 2, who then passed it to another officer from the Shenchangli
Police Station of the Xinyi District.
The Xinyi officers had trouble reading the disc, and, figuring
that it must be a spare copy of footage provided by another taxi
driver, surnamed Yang, they never paid attention to the video until
nearly one week later, when local media visited the police station
upon receiving a complaint from Chiang claiming the police had not
properly handled the evidence.
The Xinyi District Police Office had apologized for its
negligence on Feb. 9, and the Taipei City Police Department (TCPD)
had issued punishments for the Shengchangli police officers around
midnight the same day.
President Ma Concerned
President Ma Ying-jeou had personally contacted National Police
Agency (NPA) Director-General Wang Cho-chiun at around noon to
inquire about the Xinyi District Police Office's negligence in
handling the case, Presidential Office Spokesperson Fan Chiang
Tai-chi said yesterday.
After Wang reported to Ma the punishments handed out to the
police officers, the president instructed that the police should
learn their lesson in properly handling evidence and also to
lawfully unravel the truth behind the case.
Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin also instructed the TPCD to
thoroughly investigate the mistakes the police officers had made in
the process of passing on the evidence and leaving it unattended,
asking for the police officers involved to be harshly punished.
Makiyo Charged
With the video footage provided by Chiang as well as other audio
recordings of the incident provided by local convenience stores,
which clearly recorded Makiyo goading Tomoyori into beating Lin
harder, the Taipei Prosecutors Office officially indicted the two
on aggravated assault charges, with prosecutors seeking 4 years for
Makiyo and 6 years for Tomoyori.
Yaz and Vanessa, the local starlets who had accompanied the two
during the attack and had allegedly committed perjury by denying
the fact that Makiyo had kicked the victim, will be indicted
separately, the Taipei Prosecutors Office said.
Cab Drivers Furious
In addition to stirring up waves of anti-Makiyo sentiment, the
incident of Makiyo and her Japanese friend over the attack on a
taxi driver has also fueled outrage among taxi drivers in
Taiwan.
In terms of the Japan Interchange Association (JIA) in Taipei
only expressing concern for the legal aspect of how Tomoyori is
handled and not paying attention to whether the taxi driver
Tomoyori had beaten was recovering in the hospital intensive care
unit, "This is too much!" the local taxi driver association
claimed.
Of the 80,000 taxies in Taiwan, 60,000 of them operate in
Taipei, the association said, pointing out that the great number of
taxi drivers has made driving taxi in Taipei a very difficult way
to make a living; with an average hourly wage of NT$72, a taxi
driver has to work for 12 hours a day to support his family.
Lin had been working so diligently, yet the JIA had paid no
attention at all to his livelihood, the association protested,
asking the JIA to solemnly apologize over the incident, and
requesting the Taiwan government pay taxi drivers the proper
respect they deserve.
Injured Driver Forgives Makiyo
While the taxi driver association and the general public raged
on the offenders' repeated dishonest behavior, Lin, the driver
allegedly seriously injured by Makiyo and Tomoyori, thought
otherwise.
"If Makiyo and her friends admit to their misbehaviors and tell
the truth, I am willing to forgive them," Lin's lawyer quoted his
client as saying yesterday, astonishing the public.
??The incident had begun with a misunderstanding, Lin was quoted
to have said. Paraphrasing what Lin had revealed to him, the lawyer
said Makiyo had made sudden and big gestures from the backseat of
the cab to stop Vanessa, sitting next to Lin, from paying the taxi
fee.
Makiyo's motions had startled Lin, who reflexively made a
blocking gesture, and might have accidentally had physical contact
with Makiyo. Tomoyori and Yaz had already gotten out of the cab at
this point and had not witnessed these exchanges, Lin said.
Upon getting out of the taxi, Makiyo had kicked the vehicle; Lin
told her off and started calling the police. Makiyo and Tomoyori
conversed in Japanese, and the Japanese man began beating him, Lin
recalled. He remembered that a female had also kicked him.
Despite being seriously injured, Lin asserted that it is the
attitude after making a mistake that is important. Life carries on
after big mistakes; face the mistakes and do not lie, and I will
forgive them, Lin was quoted as saying.
=========
from the 3rd last paragraph its true makiyo did not lie about
the taxi driver 'touching' her. though its allegedly
accidental.
