Sina.com launches Web site claiming athlete is innocent

Sina.Com (新浪網), a local Internet portal, is coming to the aid of decathlete Gu Jing-Shui (古金水), who was found guilty of involvement in the explosion of a Uni Air passenger jet in 1999.

The company will be launching a new Web site for a group of Gu's supporters who firmly believe the athlete is innocent.

Sina.Com's spokesman Lui Yi-ju (劉憶如) told the Taipei Times yesterday that, beginning on Sunday, Internet surfers can access the Web site "Save Gu Drive" (阿水後援會) directly from Sina.Com's home page.

"Save Gu Drive" was founded in 2000 by Gu's friends and relatives as well as athletes who believe in Gu's innocence.

Lui said that Chiang Feng-nien (姜豐年), head of Sina.Com's board and a former amateur basketball player, had sponsored the Web site through the Feng-nien Foundation to show his support for Gu.

Hung Jung-tsung (洪榮聰), secretary-general of the "Save Gu Drive," said that the group had established its own Web site when the organization was founded.

"However, without enough Internet resources, the Web site often failed when too many people tried to access it," Hung said.

"Chiang came to us and asked whether he could do anything to help Gu. We thought it would be a great idea if we could use Sina's Internet resources to enhance our Web site's visibility while giving the public a chance to understand more about Gu's case," Hung said.

Gu, a renowned athlete and the former gold medalist in the decathlon at the sixth Asian Games, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years by the Hualien District Court on May 28.

Gu was convicted for asking his nephew to carry petroleum, transported in bleach and fabric softener bottles, on board a Hualien-bound Uni Air MD-80 plane.

According to the court's verdict, drawing on the investigation report of the Cabinet's Aviation Safety Council (ASC), the petroleum caused an explosion while the plane was taxiing on the runway, killing one passenger and injuring 20 others.

The man killed in the accident was Gu's older brother, Gu Jing-chi (古金池).

Although Gu Jing-Shui insisted that the bottles he gave his nephew prior boarding were filled with bleach, detergents and softeners, he was found guilty in his first trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison. After his appeal, the court again found Gu guilty but reduced his sentence to seven-and-a-half years.

"We do not believe the ASC's explanation for the crash. In fact, our purpose in establishing this Web site is to find the truth about the accident by inviting everyone to play detective," Hung said, stressing that the group did not mean to interfere with the judicial system.

According to Hung, Gu had already launched an appeal to the highest court.

"Although Gu could do nothing but serve his sentence, if the highest court still finds him guilty, the group will not stop searching for the truth to prove Gu's innocence," he said.