The Supreme Court will hold a hearing on April 27 to debate a High Court decision that The Journalist magazine did not libel Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) when it reported she told its editor-in-chief that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was having an affair.
"[The lawyers for both sides] will debate whether the defendants are protected by Constitutional Interpretation Article 509," Supreme Court spokesman Lu Yung-fu (
Constitutional Interpretation Article 509 states that "the press is allowed to raise appropriate questions about any suspicious fact or person." However, the article also says that it applies only to criminal cases.
Lu Yung-fu also said it was possible that judges may deliver a verdict in the case on the same day.
The dispute between The Journalist and Lu flared in November 2000, when the magazine published a story accusing Lu of spreading a rumor that Chen was having an affair with one of his female aides.
The magazine said Lu spread the rumor in order to unseat Chen.
Lu filed suit on Dec. 21, 2000, demanding a formal apology from the magazine, saying the story had injured her reputation.
The defendants in the case are editor-in-chief Yang Chao (楊照), president Wang Chien-chuang (王健壯), executive president Jan Hung-chi (詹宏志), publisher Wang Hsing-ching (王杏慶) and reporters Yang Shu-mei (楊舒媚), Wu Yan-ling (吳燕玲) and Tao Ling-yu (陶令瑜).
On April 10, 2002, Judge Lai Yung-hua (
However, Lai ruled that the story damaged Lu's reputation.
He therefore ordered that the six defendants had to "clarify and admit" their mistake and publish a statement to that effect on the front pages of the nation's 32 newspapers as well as broadcasting it on radio and TV for three days.
On Dec. 13, 2002, the High Court upheld the verdict after hearing an appeal by the defendants. Judge Chang Tsung-chuan (
But Chang did order that the defendants buy front-page advertisements for one day in four major Chinese-language newspapers, costing the appellants NT$3.86 million.
Chang declined Lu's request that the defendants broadcast a clarification on radio and television for three days after considering the defendants' ability to pay expenses.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS