Lee, Cheng hang their heads in shame

PFP Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) and restaurant proprietor Cheng Ko-jung (鄭可榮) apologized to the Department of Health's (DOH) acting head Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) yesterday for falsely accusing him of sexual harassment.

Lee and Cheng held a press conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday to announce they had identified the wrong person.

The two had earlier accused Twu of kissing Cheng and licking his ears against his will at a KTV parlor Aug. 6.

Lee said that while she and Cheng were watching news coverage of DOH's Personnel Department Chief Tu Hau-lin's (屠豪麟) summons on Friday night, Cheng suddenly turned to her and said, "I identified the wrong guy."

Tu was summoned by Taipei Chief Prosecutor Chuang Cheng (莊正) after witnesses testified he was present at the KTV parlor where Cheng was allegedly harassed.

Cheng then told Lee that it was Tu, not Twu, who harassed him. Tu has since denied the allegation.

Lee and Cheng bowed to Twu during the press conference, which was broadcast live on television.

"We are really sorry and would like to apologize to acting minister Twu. We didn't do this on purpose. We hope he can understand," Lee said with tears in her eyes.

Cheng also apologized to Twu and sought to explain his mistake.

"I didn't know the person who harassed me at all. It was dark at the KTV parlor so I could hardly recognize the person's face. My friend Ding Juei-feng (丁瑞豐) simply told me that this `Mr. Twu/Tu' who harassed me was the man who is about to be promoted as the head of the DOH when I called him to complain about the [incident]. I didn't know whether it was `Twu' or `Tu,'" he said.

"However, when I saw Tu on TV and heard his voice, I knew that I had misidentified Twu. I'm sorry."

It was Ding who had invited Cheng to the KTV party.

After the press conference, Lee and Cheng went to Twu's office to apologize to him in person. But the two left about 10 minutes later after Twu refused to open his door.

Twu's lawyer, Tsai Mao-sung (蔡茂松), responded at a separate press conference yesterday.

He said that Twu still plans to sue Lee, Cheng and Ding for defamation and that he will ask for NT$50 million in compensation.

"It would not proper for the plaintiff and defendants to meet outside the courtroom since the case is now in the middle of judicial process. So I told Twu not to open his door," Tsai said.

Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Lee Ming-hsien (李明憲) suggested Lee resign. He said Twu's reputation was already damaged and suggested that her apology meant little.

"Twu said that he would resign if Cheng's accusations were proved. Well, I think Lee should do the same thing in return," he said.

Another DPP lawmaker, Trong Chai (蔡同榮), said that Lee did not necessarily have to resign, but should be punished.

"For Twu, this case almost terminated his political career. I don't think that a lawmaker has a right to terminate other people's careers," Chai said.

"I suggest we get the legislature's Discipline Committee involved and allow the committee to come up with a proper punishment for Lee."

Meanwhile, the Association of Taiwan Journalists (台灣新聞記者協會) yesterday issued a press release apologizing for journalists who had jumped to conclusions about who was guilty in the case.

"It's not right for the media to decide who the guilty guy is without any evidence before the person is convicted. It's actually endangering the media industry," the press release said.