By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Ex-convict and debt collector Tung Nien-tai (董念台) yesterday accused activist group Citizen 1985 of fraud before the Criminal Investigation Bureau, claiming that it had illegally raised funds as an uncertified organization.
Tung filed a lawsuit against the group and Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), the sister of late army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday, saying that they violated the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪條例) by using the corporal’s death to incite the public to protest against the government and force the legislature to amend the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法).
Citizen 1985 organized a mass rally in front of the Presidential Office last week which drew thousands to protest against what they said was the military’s poor investigation into the Hung Chung-chiu case.
Tung alleged at the bureau that Citizen 1985, as an uncertified group, had used the case as a way to raise funds from the public to finance Internet campaigns and the protest.
Non-certified organizations are prohibited by law from fundraising and the government should not tolerate populist activities, Tung said. The way in which the group raised and used the funds is fraudulent, he added.
Tung’s actions were once again blasted by netizens as “crazy,” with some of them saying Tung was only trying to attract media attention and did not understand what Citizen 1985 had accomplished by organizing the protest.