Author Neil Peng (馮光遠) on Friday was found not guilty of defamation by the Taipei District Court for calling former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) a “court-certified male prostitute, a jerk, a scumbag and a wretch.”
Neil was first sued by King after he said that King and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had a “special/sexual relationship” (特殊性關係).
After the Taiwan High Court in March last year ruled that Peng was not guilty of defamation, Peng wrote an article in which he labeled King “a court-certified male prostitute, a jerk, a scumbag and a wretch.”
King promptly filed suit against Peng for public humiliation and defamation, as well as filing an appeal over the High Court ruling.
He won the appeal on Oct. 6 last year, with the judges ruling that Peng should pay King NT$1 million (US$30,848 at current exchange rates) in damages and publish apologies, but Peng appealed that verdict.
The lawsuit over the comments in the article was decided on Friday, with the judges ruling that the subject of Peng’s comments in the article was how his freedom of speech had been violated by the first lawsuit and how the nation’s politics is affected by bureaucrats directly appointed by the president, therefore they could not be considered vitriolic and did not amount to humiliation.
As to the defamation charge, the court said that King, a former top official, was a public figure and Peng’s comments pertained to public interests.
Although Peng’s comments were rude and not necessarily appropriate, they were not intended to tarnish King’s reputation, it said, adding that it should be deemed that the comments were made out of goodwill and within reason.
King said he would appeal Friday’s verdict, adding that it was “unacceptable” that the judges deemed Peng’s criticism was made “out of goodwill.”
Peng’s response to the verdict was that the “vile and undemocratic” system predicated by Ma and King has ended, and that he hoped the incoming government would have the magnanimity to accept criticism.
“However harsh and rude criticism might be, [the government] has to withstand the heat in the kitchen of politics,” Peng said. “Public servants serve the people. Is there any sense in public servants suing people over just a couple of reprimands?”
Peng said he wanted to send King a message that many people have said that they would file suits against King’s “master,” Ma.
Peng said he believes that with the help of transitional justice, those who were “bullied” by Ma and King would come forward to seek justice.
“I hope King will get a taste of how I felt over the past eight years, having to be summoned by a court, appearing in court and being put to trial every once in a while,” he said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS