The Taipei district court found two gay men not guilty on charges of indecency yesterday, calling it a case of justice delayed.
"When things such as this happen, the only thing that the court can do is render a not-guilty verdict. This is a decision of law, but it can do little to correct the wrongs that have been done to the defendants," said Wu Chiu-hung (
A-hau (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
A-cheng (阿誠), 34, a body-building trainer working at the health club, was also arrested by police on the same night when he tried to stop the arrest. The police charged him with providing sex services to gay customers at the club.
A third man was also taken into custody at the time but returned to Hong Kong were he lives and did not return to answer the charges.
Gay rights groups have claimed the three defendants were discriminated against during the process of arrest and police interrogation. The defendants also claim they were forced by police at the time of detention to strip so that photos could be taken and used as evidence against them.
According to court records, the police denied all accusations of discrimination and changed their testimony regarding the photos during the trial.
"At first a policeman admitted the photos were taken but that they did not force the men to do anything. But after further questioning, the officer contradicted his earlier statement about the photos," Wu said.
Media publicity surrounding the arrest of the men has cost A-cheng his job at the club and forced A-hau to change his name and residence.
The defendants do not plan to take any legal action against the police involved.
"It's better for ordinary citizens not to fight with [police] officials because chances are they will lose at the end of the day," said Kenneth H.C. Chiu (
Two pieces of major evidence used in the case by police and the prosecution were over 300 new and used condoms and the confession of A-hau during his interrogation. However, Wu said the fact that there were numerous weak points in the nature of the confession, made him question whether the admission was indeed obtained of the defendant's own free will.
He also challenged the charge of public indecency, saying it goes against common sense to think that consenting homosexuals would display acts of intimacy in public.
"Our society still regards homosexuals as strange. Few would admit they are homosexuals under such social pressure, let alone display their acts of intimacy to others," Wu said.
In acquitting the defendants, Wu expressed sympathy for the men, specially for A-cheng, saying he was only arrested because of "bad luck."
"He did nothing wrong, but only tried to stop the police from arresting his customers. His charge, as far as I'm concerned, was groundless," Wu said.
The prosecution has 10 days after receiving the written judgment to file an appeal.
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