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High Court rejects KMT defamation appeal against Yu

Former premier Yu Shyi-kun was acquitted of defamation charges yesterday over his reference to assets acquired by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as "loot" while serving as premier in 2004.

The Taiwan High Court rejected an appeal by the KMT, upholding a previous ruling by the Taipei District Court in which Yu was found not guilty on the grounds that the dispute over the KMT's assets was a public issue and that Yu had made the comment passively while responding to questions.

In his testimony during the trial, Yu said he used the term "loot" to refer to the KMT's assets because an investigative report by the Control Yuan had determined that many of the party's assets were embezzled during the party's 55-year rule and that it had not been his intent to slander the KMT.

Yesterday's ruling was final and cannot be appealed.

Yu yesterday was also found not guilty of libel by the Taipei District Court for his statement characterizing Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) as the "perpetrator" of the 228 Incident and the murder of former DPP chairman Lin Yi-hsiung's (林義雄) family.

KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, sued Yu for libel in March.

The Court found Yu spoke on matters belonging to the public domain and was therefore not guilty of libel.

The ruling can be appealed.
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