Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Tibetan self-immolator Phagmo Dhondup in an undated photo.

DHARAMSHALA, May 9: More than two months after Tibetan self-immolator Phagmo Dhondup set himself on fire, details of a conversation he had with a friend before he set himself on fire, has come out.

According to Kunsang Rinzin, a Tibetan living in south India, Phagmo Dhondup went to a restaurant with a friend before his self-immolation protest and left a message for Tibet’s independence and freedom.

In response to public anger about the sentence given to former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) for graft, the Taipei District Court collegiate bench called on people to set aside politics and focus instead on the law — but can the law be trusted?

The issue involves what is officially referred to as the action of an official in the discharge of their public duties and powers. In Taiwan, the convention had been to adhere strictly to the legal definition of public duties and powers, but during the Longtan corruption case involving former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the Supreme Court judges devised a new interpretation: “presumed actual influence.”