The Taiwan High Court yesterday insisted that The Journalist magazine must apologize to Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) for a story it published in November 2000.
The court dismissed The Journalist's appeal against an earlier ruling in Lu's civil lawsuit against it, although the magazine will be allowed to file a final appeal to the Supreme Court.
"Basically, the Journalist did not submit any new evidence to persuade the court that there was a reason to overturn the previous verdict. So we decided to uphold the previous court decision and rule against the magazine," said Hsu Cheng-shun (
"If necessary, the defendants are allowed to file another appeal, which will be final, within 20 days after they receive my verdict," Hsu said.
Neither Lu nor the defendants attended the delivery of yesterday's verdict.
Wellington Koo (
"They [the defendants] did not submit any surprising or new evidence during previous hearings, so they did not persuade judges to overturn the result," Koo said.
Hsu yesterday ruled that the defendants, seven employees of The Journalist, have to run one-day front-page advertisements in four major Chinese-language newspapers to make up for the damage done to Lu's reputation.
Lu sued the magazine over a story that claimed she had called its editor-in-chief to spread a rumor that President Chen Shui-bian (
The magazine alleged that Lu spread the rumor in order to unseat Chen.
Lu filed her suit on Dec. 21, 2000, demanding a formal apology from the magazine.
On April 10, 2002, the Taipei District Court found the defendants not guilty of criminal libel. However, judges ruled that the story had damaged Lu's reputation, which is a civil offence, and ordered the seven defendants to "clarify and admit" their mistake by publishing 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.
The cost of such clarifications has been estimated at NT$180 million.
On Dec. 13, 2002, the High Court upheld the verdict on appeal, but reduced the punishment to run one-day front-page advertisements in four major Chinese-language newspapers. The court also dismissed Lu's request that the defendants broadcast a clarification on radio and TV for three days, which would cost about NT$3.86 million.
On April 29 this year, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict concerning criminal libel, and the defendants decided to file a second appeal against Lu's civil claim.
The magazine yesterday said that it would not make any decision about whether to file its final appeal to the Supreme Court until it has received Hsu's verdict.
The defendants are the magazine's president Wang Chien-chuang (
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS