3 Taoyuan police officers accused of brutality under investigation

Taoyuan, Feb. 22 (CNA) Three police officers in Taoyuan are being investigated by prosecutors over alleged brutality against a 17-year-old boy during a recent interrogation, the city's police precinct said Thursday.

The case is currently being handled by Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, the precinct said in a brief statement.

Police officers who break the law will be severely punished and their supervisors be held accountable, it said, indicating that the police station's chief has been transferred to a non-supervisory position over the incident.

At a news conference, Taoyuan City Councilor Chan Chiang-tsun (詹江村) said the victim, identified by his last name Huang (黃), was passing in front of Wuling police station at around 9 p.m. on Feb. 18 when he was stopped by three officers.

They accused Huang of being a suspect involved in a recently reported kidnapping case and took him into the station to be interrogated for about an hour, Chan said.

During the interrogation Huang was struck multiple times and even tasered by the officers in an attempt to make him confess, the councilor said, indicating that the teenager was eventually released after eight hours of wrongful detention because the officers had nothing on him.

Chan said when he learned about the case, he asked the police station for an account of the incident, but was told there is no recording of the interrogation.

Asked by reporters what happened that night, Huang said he was only passing by the area to get to his scooter when the officers detained him for questioning.

They did not give an explanation, Huang said, adding that he was simply told to leave after they returned his cellphone.

Following a medical examination at Saint Paul's Hospital in Taoyuan, the teenager said he subsequently filed a report with the Sanxia police precinct against the three officers for "intimidation, causing harm and public humiliation."

In its statement, the Taoyuan police precinct said officers who break the law will be severely punished and their supervisors held accountable.

On Thursday, the Taoyuan precinct apologized to Huang and his family over the incident, saying that it will not tolerate and does not condone violations of the law committed by its officers.