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
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS