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KMT legislator facing damages payout

The Taiwan High Court ruled yesterday that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) and restaurant proprietor Cheng Ko-jung (鄭可榮) must pay former Department of Health minister Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) NT$1 million (US$30,000) in damages for falsely claiming he had licked a man's ear at a KTV parlor.

The ruling said Twu could appeal the case to the Supreme Court but that Lee and Cheng could not.

They were ordered to pay the compensation because their accusations had damaged Twu's reputation.

In April 2005, Taipei District Court ruled that Lee and Cheng had to pay Twu NT$600,000, but the Taiwan High Court increased the amount, adding it was too low given Twu's social status.

The case first came to light on Oct. 3, 2002, when Cheng held a press conference with Lee where they accused Twu of kissing and licking Cheng's ear at a KTV parlor on Aug. 6.

Twu then filed a slander suit against them and promised to resign if the accusations were proved true.

Cheng later realized he had mistaken Twu for former health department personnel chief Tu Hau-lin (屠豪麟) and held another press conference where he and Lee made a public apology.

Cheng said he was drunk at the time of the incident and that it was his fault if he had mistaken Twu for Tu.

Tu was later found guilty of sexually harassing Cheng in August 2002.

Later yesterday, Lee said she was surprised by the ruling and could not accept it.

In a statement, Lee said that, as a lawmaker, she was obliged to speak for people who appealed to her for help.

She said the alleged sexual harassment was not a fabrication and that she had not intended to make false accusations against Twu.

Twu, meanwhile, said that he would appeal because he felt that the compensation offered was not in proportion to the damage to his reputation.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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