The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s five-month sentence against Huang Yung-tien (黃永田) for snatching Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Chiu Yi’s (邱毅) toupee last December.
Huang may pay a NT$150,000 fine in lieu of the prison sentence. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
Huang, a supporter of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), in December grabbed Chiu’s hair piece in front of the Control Yuan as Chiu was initiating impeachment proceedings against Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) for his decision to release Chen from detention.
When the Taipei District Court tried the case, judges ruled that Huang’s action was intentional after examining video recordings. In January, the district court sentenced Huang to five months in jail for depriving Chiu of his right to “look good.”
Huang said he was present at the Control Yuan at the time of the incident, but he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, insisting that his action was accidental. He told high court judges he was only trying to get a photo with Chiu, but because a guard thought he was trying to harm Chiu, the guard pulled his left hand, causing his right hand to accidentally pull off Chiu’s hair piece.
High court judges found that the extent of destruction caused to the hair piece indicated it was torn off violently. Judges therefore ruled in favor of Chiu.
RSS