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Editorial: Hsieh making mockery of judiciary

Former New Party legislator Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) is back. For a fugitive who had been on the run, she arrived with a bang, showing no remorse for the injuries she inflicted on the target of her libel -- former first lady Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠).

Contrary to the general public's impression of how fugitives -- at least those with a shred of conscience and shame -- generally behave in front of TV cameras, Hsieh gave a press conference at the airport, during which she insisted once again that not only had she been wrongfully convicted but that Tseng had indeed tried to flee to New York with US$85 million in cash stuffed into 54 suitcases right after the KMT lost the presidential election in 2000.

Hsieh is a textbook example of how hatred can blind a person to the point of betraying long-held values without the slightest sense of regret.

Hsieh owes everyone a big apology. As a former lawmaker and former judge, trained and paid with taxpayers' money, she more than anyone should know how bad an example she set by fleeing Taiwan to escape punishment. There is a good chance that a large majority of criminals serving prison sentences, if not all of them, think they do not deserve what they got.

If everyone went on the run like Hsieh, what would happen to our judicial system? By doing what she did, how different is Hsieh from mob bosses and common crooks who escape to China, which has for all practical purposes turned into a haven for thugs from Taiwan?

Whatever bones Hsieh may have to pick with her guilty verdict, she should have sought redress within the judicial system, such as by filing for an appeal.

When Hsieh finally did return, she continued to make the same erroneous allegations against Tseng, even though a court had already found her guilty of libel. The disrespect and contempt for the judicial system underlying her conduct should be enough to make all her former law professors live in shame for failing to provide her better legal training.

As for the VCDs and the book that Hsieh is releasing to continue her libelous attacks against Tseng, since these attacks have been proven to constitute criminal libel, Tseng should be entitled to seek an injunction from the courts against the release of such materials. This has nothing to do with freedom of speech, since Hsieh's speech has been ruled to fall outside the scope of free speech. Rather, it is an issue of protecting the rights and interests of the victim -- Tseng.

If all perpetrators of crimes could continue to hurt their victims this way, the judicial system would be rendered meaningless.

Even more laughable is the way Hsieh tried to portray herself as a martyr, depicting herself as a political prisoner. Political prisoners who gave their lives to the dissident movement during the White Terror are rolling over in their graves in disgust.

The truth of the matter is that Hsieh has no proof of her allegation against Tseng, which was why she was found guilty of libel. Hsieh is not being politically persecuted for anything. Anyone who pays attention to this case knows that Hsieh, along with former New Party legislator Elmer Fung (馮滬祥), first made the libelous allegation against Tseng after the presidential election in 2000 during an out-of-control protest against then KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). Hsieh relied on hearsay from others when she made the allegation, as she couldn't have had the chance to verify her allegation. Whatever shred of supposed evidence she managed to dig up later was for the sole purpose of covering her own behind. The credibility of such evidence speaks for itself.

Our only wish is that this entire charade is not a publicity stunt, or a prelude for Hsieh's participation in the next legislative election.

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