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Soong wins slander suit against Chen

"He [Soong] was also unhappy that the trial was delayed for so long. The trial was delayed for a year, which made the public unable to understand the truth."

Lee Hung-chun, People First Party spokesman

Taipei judges ruled against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday, ordering him to pay People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) NT$3 million (US$90,900) in compensation for slandering him.

The Taipei District Court also ordered Chen to publish a half-page advertisement on the front pages of three major Chinese-language newspapers: the Liberty Times, the United Daily News and the China Times, for one day with an apology to Soong.

Chen's defense attorney said the president would appeal the verdict.

Soong filed a civil suit against Chen for slander in June 2005 after the president said the opposition leader had met secretly with the head of China's State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), during a trip to the US that year.

The president made the comment on TV and claimed to have "evidence" to back up his claim, but he never presented that evidence in public.

Soong had asked for NT$50 million in compensation and for the president to buy front page ads for three days in major newspapers in the US, the UK and Japan to apologize.

The judges ruled against Soong's request that Chen's apology should be published in major foreign newspapers on the grounds that the president did not make his remark to the foreign press.

The judges said publishing an apology in three major Chinese-language newspapers would be more appropriate.

Soong left Taiwan for the US after losing the Taipei mayoral election last December and has not returned.

PFP spokesman Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), speaking on behalf of Soong, told a press conference that the party was relieved by the verdict.

"Even though the result came late, it at least gave justice to Soong," Lee said.

"Despite winning the lawsuit, Soong said he felt sad that the head of state had made a malicious and groundless accusation and slandered him in the media," Lee said.

"He was also unhappy that the trial was delayed for so long. The trial was delayed for a year, which prevented the public from learning the truth," Lee said.

The president's defense attorney, Lin Chih-hao (林志豪), said his team would file an appeal within 20 days, the time specified in the Code of Civil Procedure (民事訴訟法).

"The president has shown the judges that his evidence came from Bureau of Investigation Director-General Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂). It did not come from nothing," Lin said.

The Presidential Office declined to comment on the ruling yesterday, saying it had to wait until it received the official ruling from the court and reviewed it before making any statement.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and Ko Shu-ling
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