Dozens of civic group members yesterday rallied outside the Taipei District Court as prosecutors questioned Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) about a slander lawsuit filed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆).
“We condemn lawmakers who file lawsuits against watchdog groups. Instead, they should face public scrutiny with honesty,” National Union of Taiwan Women’s Associations chairwoman Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) told demonstrators outside the courthouse yesterday morning.
“We urge Tsai to withdraw the lawsuit. You may have ranked last [in CCW’s evaluation of lawmakers], but you won’t stay there if you work hard enough,” Chen said.
PHOTO: CNA
EVALUATION
The CCW held the first evaluation of lawmakers in August, in which more than 100 people including students, journalists, academics and representatives from civic groups assigned scores to lawmakers by reviewing their attendance, number of legislative proposals and misconduct.
Tsai filed a slander lawsuit against Ho and CCW chairman Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) after he was ranked last among legislators in the Internal Administration Committee. Tsai has accused the CCW of bias and said the evaluation was not transparent.
PRECEDENTS
This was not the first time Ho and Ku have been sued by lawmakers.
In July, the two were sued by KMT Legislator Chen Ken-te (陳根德) for slander, when the CCW made a mistake regarding Chen Ken-te’s attendance record because the legislature did not release information about a classified meeting he had attended.
They were not indicted.
In September, Chiu Yi (邱毅) sued Ho and Ku after being awarded the lowest ranking in the CCW’s evaluation. The CCW later established that a miscalculation had been made during the evaluation and apologized to Chiu, whereupon he withdrew the lawsuit.
Despite the lawsuits, the CCW and its supporters remain determined to monitor the legislature.
“In a legislature where one party has absolute majority, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like if there were no watchdog organizations such as the CCW. It reminds the lawmakers who their bosses are,” Buddhist Master Shih Chao-hui (釋昭慧) said yesterday, adding that the lawsuits were a waste of resources in the judiciary.
“Lawmakers who receive the lowest rankings should just step down,” she said.
Before walking into the courthouse, Ho told the crowd that Tsai had made many negative comments about the CCW.
“I think we should be the ones who are suing for defamation,” Ho said.
Despite the protest, Tsai declined to drop the lawsuit.
“The CCW’s evaluation and its neutrality are questionable. Therefore, I will not withdraw the lawsuit,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS