Formosa Electronic News founder Wu Tzu-chia said on Oct. 26 in Zhubei that seizing a journalist's phone threatens source protection while describing the Oct. 22 search. The prosecutors' response and their reasons for the search were not confirmed in the reports consulted.
The United Daily News reported that Wu spoke at a ‘Chairman Talk’ event in Zhubei on Oct. 26 under the title ‘Green Terror, Political Violence’. He said the matter goes beyond personal issues to press freedom and democracy, adding that his outlet monitors politicians regardless of party and was then looking into the family of Hsinchu County candidate Cheng Chao-fang.
광고 문의 · 300×250By his account, the Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office searched his home and the outlet's office on Oct. 22, staff were told to stop using electronic devices and work, and that night's live broadcast was cancelled. He said he was sent home after police questioning with no bail and no detention request. A link between the search and the probe into Cheng's family is only Wu's claim and has not been confirmed.
Phone seizure and proportionality
Wu stressed that a reporter's phone holds interview records, investigation material, unpublished leads and source information, and he fears unrelated data could be examined. The reports do not say whether the phone's contents have actually been viewed.
He noted that his home and office addresses are public and he speaks publicly often, so prosecutors could simply summon him. Saying the case involves the election and recall law, with a maximum penalty of five years, he questioned whether searching a home and news organization and seizing a phone were necessary. This is Wu's own position, and no official response has appeared.
Detention of a delivery contractor
Wu said a delivery contractor surnamed Peng in Hsinchu County was detained incommunicado; he was the client and had explained this in his police statement. He questioned why he was released after cooperating while the contractor was held. The reasons for the detention and the case details were not provided.
On media reports linking the delivery workers to foreign interference in the election, Wu said police did not ask about it and that workers' nationality and any direction by foreign political forces are separate matters, so one cannot infer interference because the workers were Vietnamese. The reports offered no evidence either way, and the prosecutors' position remains unconfirmed.