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.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS