Veteran political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) yesterday rebutted allegations of financial impropriety during the 2006 anti-corruption “red shirts” against then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), as his lawsuit against former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tainan City councilor Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) opened at the Taiwan High Court yesterday.
Shih, accompanied by his wife, Chen Chia-chun (陳嘉君), held a news conference in front of the court building, at which they showed stacks of receipts and accounting documents, which Shih said he planned to present as evidence.
“I have managed the public’s donations scrupulously,” Shih said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
In response to accusations by Wang and others critics that he had profited personally from the donations, he said: “People can kill me, but they must not denigrate my integrity.”
Shih sued Wang contending that Wang made false allegations against him during an appearance on a television talk show in 2007, when Wang said: “Shih is a deplorable person. He skimmed money from donations [to the red-shirt movement].”
In the first ruling, Wang was found to have tarnished Shih’s reputation and was ordered to pay NT$1 million (US$30,520 at current exchange rates) in damages.
Wang appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court, and in June the Council of Grand Justices ruled that Wang did not have to pay damages.
However, on the basis that he had new evidence to present, Shih filed a lawsuit with the Taiwan High Court which began hearing the case yesterday.
Toward the latter phase of the red-shirt movement, quarrels over accounting and use of money became a divisive issue, as Shih and other high-ranking activists came under pressure to reveal the details of the movement’s finances, since Shih had called for the public to donate NT$100 per person to show their support.
The red-shirt leaders announced on Oct. 13, 2006, that the donations they had received came to NT$111 million, of which NT$41.78 million was spent, leaving NT$62.62 million remaining.
Wang’s lawyer Chang Ching-kai (張清凱) yesterday said the court should not have granted Shih’s request for a retrial, since the Supreme Court had already made the final ruling on the case, and that during the lower-court trial, Shih had said that most of the receipts and accounting items had already been discarded or destroyed.
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