Former Taipei City councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平), who last year accused a cosmetics firm of being involved in the murder of a Taipei County councilor, was found guilty of slander yesterday and ordered to pay NT$1 in compensation and publish apologies on the front pages of three major Chinese-language newspapers.
Chung has 10 days to appeal the verdict by the Taipei District Court.
Chung was sued by local cosmetics manufacturer GP Deva after he accused it of involvement in the murder of former Taipei County councilor Wu Shan-jeou (吳善九) without offering any evidence.
“Because judges believed that what Chung said to the press seriously damaged the company’s reputation and public image, which he should not have done before a verdict was available, they granted the company’s request for compensation,” said Huang Chun-min (黃俊明), spokesman for the Taipei District Court.
Wu was killed in his Sindian office by a lone gunman on May 23 last year. The gunman was later confirmed to be Lan Chia-wei (藍家偉), but Lan shot himself with his own pistol after a gun battle with the police in Taipei on June 24.
Because Wu had business dealings with Huang Chin-chun (黃錦春), one of GP Deva’s board members, police raided the company’s office during their investigation into the murder.
On July 13 last year, GP Deva held a press conference and said that it had nothing to do with the case despite the fact Huang was alleged to have masterminded the murder.
The allegations were never proven.
Without providing evidence to support his claim, Chung immediately responded to the company’s public announcement by telling reporters: “The company is lying and it is definitely involved in this case.”
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