The Taiwan High Court said Friday that it has revoked its guilty verdict against seven Sunflower Movement protesters over the occupation of the Executive Yuan complex in 2014, as the charges have been dropped, and the case has been closed.
In April 2020, the High Court sentenced the seven defendants to prison terms ranging from two to four months for inciting the occupation but they appealed, and the Supreme Court sent the case back to the High Court in January.
In remanding the case to the High court, the Supreme Court said its decision was based on the argument that the defendants were exercising their “right of resistance,” or “civil disobedience,” as part of their right to freedom of expression.
On Friday, the High Court said the role of the seven defendants in the occupation of the Executive Yuan complex during the protest had been redefined as assisting rather than inciting the protesters.
Furthermore, the Executive Yuan has dropped its charges against the defendants, and the case has now been closed, the High Court said.
The Sunflower Movement was triggered by a decision by the then Kuomintang (KMT) administration to fast track a bill on a Cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement (CSSTA) with China.
During the protests from March 18 to April 10, hundreds of students broke into the Legislative Yuan, while thousands demonstrated outside the complex.
One group of students, including the seven defendants, attempted to occupy the nearby Executive Yuan on March 23, but were forcibly removed by police wielding batons and firing water cannons during the early hours of March 24.
The first trial of the seven people accused of inciting the occupation of Executive Yuan was held in 2017 in the Taipei District Court, which acquitted them.
The case was later appealed in the High Court, which overturned the lower court’s verdict in 2020 and found the seven defendants guilty.
The High Court’s decision on Friday cannot be appealed.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel