Premier Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) lawyer yesterday filed a lawsuit against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Nantou County commissioner candidate Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) for saying Wu was connected to criminals.
Wu’s lawyer, Lai Su-ru (賴素如), went to the Taipei District Court to file criminal and civil charges against Lee, accusing him of slander and demanding compensation of NT$3 million (US$100,000) and a public apology in major newspapers.
Lai said if his team wins the lawsuit, they will donate the NT$3 million to charity.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Last week, Lee alleged that Wu, Chiang Chin-liang (江欽良) — a convicted felon on parole — and Nantou County Commissioner Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) traveled together to Bali, Indonesia, last December to settle distribution of profits from the local gravel trade and select a new Nantou County Council speaker and vice speaker.
Rebutting Lee Wen-chung’s allegation, Wu told a press conference last Friday that the DPP candidate should prove his allegations or issue a public apology, giving Lee Wen-chung a three-day deadline ending on Monday. Because Lee Wen-chung still had not apologized, Wu’s lawyer filed the lawsuit yesterday.
Wu has been on the defensive since Next Magazine published a story last Wednesday suggesting that he had ties to Chiang. Chiang, now chairman of the Tsaoyetun Night Market Association in Caotun Township (草屯), was convicted of murder in two separate cases: the slaying of a Changhua gangster and a Nantou County council member in 1983 and 1985 respectively.
When asked for comment on the matter yesterday during an interview with the Chinese-language United Evening News, Wu said: “I have no choice but to file a lawsuit as I can’t indulge irresponsible behavior by politicians. [Suing Lee Wen-chung] is not only defending my personal reputation, but also fighting for the goodness of Taiwanese people.”
“It’s not a good thing that [Lee Wen-chung] defamed [my] character and smeared [Chiang], with whom he also consulted often in the past, or even that he thinks that [Chiang] should be trampled to death to gain his own political benefits and make his strategy work,” Wu added.
Meanwhile, Lee Wen-chung issued a statement yesterday demanding that Wu offer an apology to Nantou residents for “publicly endorsing gangsters.”
“Politicians should not have ties with gangsters,” he said. “No one dares to stand up to gangsters. Let me be the one then.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN AND STAFF WRITER
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