The Journalist magazine (新新聞) will not be allowed to rely on the testimonies of three secret witnesses as it defends itself from libel charges brought by Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
The Taipei District Court yesterday denied the magazine's request that the testimonies be permitted, saying the vice president's right to an open trial outweighed The Journalist's desire for secrecy, which it said was necessary in order to protect its press freedom.
"Though the plaintiff in this case is the vice president of the country, the court believes everyone is equal before the law and the rights to which the vice president is entitled to -- in accordance with the law -- shall be no more than, but no less than, ordinary citizens'," said Lai Yung-hua (賴泱樺), the trial judge hearing the civil dispute between Lu and The Journalist.
Lai said the libel trial was a matter of public concern, and that the public has the right to know the merits of the case through open proceedings in order to monitor political figures and the media.
During an April 9 hearing, The Journalist had asked that the court hear the testimonies of three "secret" news sources. The magazine says the sources were instrumental to its report last year that said the vice president was spreading rumors of an affair between President Chen Shui-bian (
The magazine also requested that Lu's lawyers not be granted access to transcripts of the secret witnesses' testimonies.
In handing down his decision, Lai said that secret proceedings would interfere with the vice president's right to a fair trial.
Though The Journalist has argued that identifying its news sources would threaten their careers, Lai said the magazine had failed to sufficiently identify the source of these potential "threats."
The Journalist also claimed that because its three witnesses are famous, revealing their identities would have an "extraordinary impact on the country." The magazine also raised the specter of Taiwan being "struck with an unprecedented disaster" if the identities of its witnesses were revealed.
In response to yesterday's ruling, Lo Ming-ton (羅明通), a lawyer for The Journalist, said the magazine would file for a constitutional review of the decision within 10 days.
Lo argued that Lai should have allowed the secret hearing to protect the magazine's news sources, and by not doing so it violated the constitutional guarantee to a free press. The magazine holds that if the media is not allowed to keep their sources secret, it would chill free speech in Taiwan.
Lai said that the trial would proceed as normal, despite the magazine's intention to seek a constitutional review of his decision.
The judge also ordered The Journalist to decide in two weeks whether it will call the three news sources to testify in public. Further efforts to reach a settlement were again rejected yesterday.
The magazine is still seeking an out-of-court settlement with the vice president, but a deal remains far off as both sides are deeply split over an agreement, said Wang Chien-chuang (
Yu Mei-nu (
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