Dapu Case Ruling: Government Land Expropriation Ruled Illegal; Zhang Family Widow Says Government Should Rebuild the House

In the Miaoli Dapu farmland expropriation case, Dapu residents filed an administrative lawsuit seeking revocation of the "expropriation order." The Taichung High Administrative Court delivered its ruling this morning: the four Dapu households won their case, the Ministry of the Interior's zone expropriation was illegal, and the Miaoli County Government's demolition of the residents' homes was illegal. Taiwan Rural Front held a press conference this morning, demanding that the law be amended to abolish zone expropriation. Peng Xiuchun, a resident of the Dapu Zhang Pharmacy, said, "The government must rebuild our house."

Dapu residents believed that the Ministry of the Interior's expropriation was illegal and that the Miaoli County Government had forcibly seized their land, so they filed an administrative lawsuit. In June 2011, the Taichung High Administrative Court ruled against the residents. In June 2012, the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the Taichung High Court ruling and remanded the case to the Taichung High Administrative Court for retrial.

However, before the Taichung High Administrative Court had issued its retrial verdict, on July 18 of last year the Miaoli County Government forcibly demolished the four Dapu households, and Dapu Zhang Pharmacy resident Zhang Senwen drowned himself as a result.

The Government Should Return the Land and Rebuild the Houses

"The government is truly hateful. How could County Magistrate Liu Zhenghong drive my husband to his death?" Peng Xiuchun, the widow of Zhang Pharmacy, asked tearfully at the Rural Front press conference this morning. Peng Xiuchun said that the government should return the land, rebuild the houses, and apologize to the affected households.

Xu Shirong, chairman of Taiwan Rural Front and a professor in the Department of Land Economics at National Chengchi University, said that before his death, Zhang Pharmacy resident Zhang Senwen had asked him many times: "Teacher, by what right do they do this? What crime have I actually committed?" Xu Shirong believed that today's ruling was a "bitter achievement" and that the government should no longer use land expropriation to deprive residents of their land or even their lives.

Liao Benquan, chairman of the Citizens of the Earth Foundation and associate professor in the Department of Real Estate and Built Environment at National Taipei University, questioned: "Recently, not a single illegal homestay in Nantou's Cingjing has been demolished. So what law have the Dapu residents violated that warrants forcible demolition?"

Taiwan Rural Front today proposed a civil-society version of the Land Expropriation Act, calling for the abolition of zone expropriation, explicitly stipulating that designated agricultural zones must not be expropriated, and requiring that all expropriation cases hold hearings to fully reflect the opinions of landowners.

Full Accountability Pursued; Rural Front Calls on Ministry of the Interior Not to Appeal Again

Zhan Shungui, a lawyer for the Dapu expropriation case self-rescue association, said that administration according to law is not for the government alone to decide. This ruling by the Taichung High Administrative Court shows that the principles of public interest and necessity must be substantively assessed, rather than simply asserted unilaterally by officials.

Regarding the ruling, the Miaoli County Government said this morning that it needed to wait for the Ministry of the Interior's action before deciding whether to appeal. The Ministry of the Interior will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. today.

In response, Rural Front said, "The Ministry of the Interior should stop twisting things and should give up filing an appeal, return the residents' land, rebuild the houses, and let the Dapu residents return to their daily lives." As for whether to seek state compensation, Dapu self-rescue association lawyer Zhan Shungui said that because state compensation still uses taxpayers' money, their demand at this stage remains that the government rebuild the houses. As for whether to file for state compensation, because the ruling was only announced today, the residents still need to discuss it.