In the latest legal setback for members of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) family, Kaohsiung District Court ruled against his son yesterday in a libel suit he brought against a magazine that accused him of soliciting a prostitute earlier this year.
Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), who has vowed to quit his candidacy for the Greater Kaohsiung council if the allegations were proved to be true, lost the suit after a judge found that his telephone records matched the location where the solicitation allegedly took place.
He was also ordered to pay the Chinese-language Next Magazine’s legal costs after a judge ruled that the popular tabloid had fact-checked its report and was protected by freedom of speech laws.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
In early July, the magazine ran a front page photo of Chen Chih-chung alongside a self-styled prostitute named “Nicole,” with the headline: “Breaking News, Chen Chih-chung solicited a prostitute.”
It accused him of picking up Nicole in the early hours of July 3, and then taking her to a small motel in Kaohsiung City. A picture was released of his SUV entering the building, although no pictures of Chen Chih-chung himself were captured.
FREQUENT SOLICITATION
Based on four telephone recordings and an account of events from Nicole, who confirmed that the two shared a room that night, the magazine concluded that it was likely that Chen Chih-chung had frequently solicited prostitutes.
Chen Chih-chung, along with his wife, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚) immediately refuted the accusations, claiming the car was loaned to a friend at the time of the incident and saying that Chen Chih-chung had spent the night at a seafood restaurant — which was denied by the -restaurant owner.
An official at the Kaohsiung District Court said that after investigating detailed records from both of Chen Chih-chung’s cellphones, which included information about where the calls were made, a judge determined that he had been in the vicinity of where the magazine alleges he met Nicole.
Cross referencing both Chen and Nicole’s cellphone records at the time, a judge discovered that “when they spoke on the phone and received text messages, they were in the same location, according to a cellphone tower,” court official Lin Shu-hui (林淑惠) said.
She added Chen had placed four calls using his number to Nicole’s cellphone.
The court said it believed it was unusual for Chen Chih-chung to withhold surveillance tape footage from his residence, despite being approached to provide it by the courts, saying that it had already been overwritten.
‘GUESSWORK’
Speaking after the ruling, Chen Chih-chung, standing alongside his wife, suggested that judges had used “guesswork” to determine the verdict and that the courts did not possess direct evidence linking him to the allegations.
“I have 100 percent belief in Chih-chung that he did not solicit any prostitutes and that it was impossible for him to engage in any behavior like that,” Huang said.
Claiming the ruling was the latest in a long line of attacks against the former first family, Chen Chih-chung said: “The method used by the courts was cursory and did not take into account any evidence that was in my favor.”
His lawyers said they have not yet decided whether they would launch an appeal after originally claiming NT$2 million (US$66,100) in damages and a public apology from Next Magazine.
The ruling comes five days after the Supreme Court sentenced both his parents, former president Chen Shui-bian and wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), to at least 11 years in prison for accepting hundreds of millions of NT dollars in bribes. The two are still awaiting appeals on three other cases for an additional bribery charge, money laundering and embezzling secret diplomatic funds.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)