Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) was charged yesterday with slapping Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) during a dispute in the legislature in April.
A legislative committee meeting was called on the morning of April 22 for a briefing on cross-strait talks. It began with DPP legislators complaining that Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) was not present.
A skirmish began while Lee was at the podium, after he said that rather than criticizing Chiang, the DPP should have condemned former SEF heads under the DPP administration for failing to report to the committee.
Lee and Chiu then engaged in a shouting match after Lee asked Chiu to stop interrupting him and show manners.
The committee chairman, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), ordered a recess, but Chiu and Lee continued to bicker, with Lee challenging Chiu to hit him and calling her a pofu (潑婦, “shrew”).
Chiu demanded Lee apologize.
When no apology was forthcoming, Chiu allegedly slapped Lee in the face. Lee then shouted “violent party” and called Chiu a “violent shrew.”
After the incident, the two held separate press conferences to condemn each other.
Later that day, Lee filed a lawsuit against Chiu at the Taipei District Court for “harming him and smearing him in public.”
Chiu was referred to the legislature’s Discipline Committee because of the incident.
In the indictment, prosecutors said that based on examination of video recordings of the legislative committee meeting, Chiu indeed slapped Lee, and charged Chiu with public humiliation.
Prosecutors stated in the indictment that being slapped in public would cause the person who was slapped to feel humiliated. They alleged that Chiu deliberately intended to humiliate Lee when she slapped him at the legislature, which is a public place.
On Apr. 24, two days after Lee filed his lawsuit, Chiu also filed a public humiliation lawsuit against Lee for calling her names. However, the district court ruled in favor of Lee and found him not guilty.
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