The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it would file defamation lawsuits against the host and a number of guests on a talk show for “abusing freedom of speech” by criticizing President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and accusing the KMT of interfering with the judiciary in the corruption cases against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
“The KMT has always respected and defended the independence of the judiciary ... Accusing us of intervening in the system has clearly done great damage to the party’s reputation,” KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said.
The lawsuits will be aimed at the host and guests on the political talk show Boss Talk (頭家來開講), which airs on Formosa Television (FTV). In last Thursday’s show, the host — former Government Information Office chief Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) — and his guests discussed a ruling by the Supreme Court that day convicting Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), on bribery charges, sentencing them to 19 years in prison.
The guests, who included former Democratic Progressive Party deputy secretary-general You Ying-lung (游盈隆) and former reporter Wang Shi-chi (王時齊), accused Ma and the KMT of interfering with the judiciary by vowing to lead judicial reform and using the rulings to boost its momentum ahead of the special municipality elections on Nov. 27.
In a letter addressed to FTV the following day, the KMT demanded that Shieh and his guests clarify their remarks within three days or face legal action.
KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) said that as the party did not hear back from either the guests or the host, it decided to file lawsuits.
“Talk show hosts and guests enjoy freedom of speech, but they do not have the freedom to fabricate lies and make groundless accusations,” King said, adding that the KMT was not considering suing the TV station.
Su declined to confirm the number of guests the KMT would sue, adding that the party would let the public know after it finished filing the documents.
Prior to the FTV case, former KMT chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄) brought a lawsuit against the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), while King sued political commentator Chung Nien-huang (鍾年晃), who appeared on the Talking Show (大話新聞) program on SET-TV, again over their comments regarding the Chen ruling.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS