The Taiwan High Court yesterday found Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) not guilty in a slander case brought by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), upholding an earlier district court ruling.
Yesterday’s ruling was final.
A panel of three judges in the Taiwan High Court said at its judgment that Chen Chao-min’s remarks made in the legislature in his capacity as minister of national defense were not grounds for legal action against him.
“Chen Chao-min’s remarks were based on the 319 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee’s conclusions,” high court spokesman Wen Yao-yuan (溫耀源) said.
“There is no evidence that Chen Chao-min violated any of the former president’s rights,” he said.
The case stemmed from comments made by the minister in May during a legislative meeting.
During a conversation with Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), Chen Chao-min said “the shooting case must have been staged” as the former president’s injuries were not caused by the bullets found by police.
Wen said the judges ruled that what Chen Chao-min said to Tsai was basically in line with the committee’s final report.
Chen Shui-bian had complained in previous hearings that Chen Chao-min had slandered him because the former president had turned down Chen Chao-min for a Cabinet position during his presidency.
On Oct. 27, the Taipei District Court ruled in favor of Chen Chao-min and said he had not intended to insult Chen Shui-bian.
The former president then filed an appeal and attended every hearing in person, except for the last hearing on Dec. 29 as he was preparing for his own detention hearing at the Taipei District Court the same day.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all