The libel trial pitting Vice President Annette Lu (
Amid much media fanfare, the Taipei District Court opened the high-profile case in the morning. Lu is suing the political weekly for running a report accusing her of spreading rumors that President Chen was having an affair with his interpreter.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Lu denies spreading the rumor and demands in the suit that The Journalist make a formal public apology.
The vice president did not attend the hearing in person but had six lawyers representing her. Of eight defendants from The Journalist, only four -- President Wang Chien Chuang (
During the hearing that lasted more than four hours, debate centered on whether Yang Chao, who claimed to be the source of the disputed report, had received a voice message and a telephone call from the vice president on Nov. 3.
Yang said he received the call between 11pm and 11:05 pm. He said the vice president had earlier left him a voice message, saying, "I am Vice President Lu. I have something to tell you."
Yang said Lu told him during the subsequent three-minute call, "Hsiao Bi-khim (
Yang's claims, however, have been weakened by the fact that his phone records for Nov. 3 contain four outgoing calls and one incoming call, none of which was held with the vice president.
During the hearing, the magazine's lawyers said the vice president may have tampered with Yang's phone records, deleting records of the two crucial calls.
"We cannot rule out the possibility that the records have been tampered with. The possible scenarios are either that the calls weren't made, or the records have been deleted, or technical problems have made this strange thing happen," said Lo Ming-tung (
The vice president's lawyers claimed the vice president would not and could not have modified Yang's phone records.
Lu's lawyers argued that telecommunications operators jealously guard customer phone records, which form the basis of phone bills. It was impossible that Yang's mobile phone operator, Taiwan Cellular (
They also said that Taiwan Cellular officials had stated clearly that the company's software and hardware technicians work separately so that neither of them would possibly be able to change the records.
Lu's lawyers contended that The Journalist had fabricated the report to defame the vice president.
Also under robust debate was the question of which side should bear the burden of proof.
The Journalist argued the burden lay with the suing party. But the vice president's lawyers countered that the magazine had to prove its own assertions that Yang's phone records had been tampered with.
Presiding judge Lai Yang-hua (
Since The Journalist published the report on Nov. 16 last year the two sides have traded accusations.
The judge requested both sides put previous public accusations behind them and refrain from using out-of-court statements against each other during the trial.
To support their denial that Yang's phone records had been modified, the vice president's lawyers have asked Taiwan Cellular to testify on their behalf, while The Journalist said Yang's phone records should be assessed by experts.
The magazine in turn requested that Lu's phone records for Nov. 3 be investigated.
The trial was recessed until after Chinese New Year.
The judge said a procedural meeting will be held on Feb. 8, in which he will sort out the case's contentions with each side and examine their evidence.
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