A former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator is to serve up to eight months in prison for falsely accusing another candidate of vote-buying in the 2008 legislative elections.
Lee Wen-chung’s (李文忠) sentence by a lower court was upheld by a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that found the 52-year-old, three-term legislator guilty of violating the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法).
During an election event at a traditional market in Taipei County in 2008, Lee told reporters that the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) legislative candidate, Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰), had bought votes throughout his political career.
“His elections use the traditional method — that is, the method of buying votes,” he said.
The comment reportedly infuriated Lu, who filed a slander lawsuit against Lee. While a district court first found Lee not guilty, he was sentenced to eight months following an appeal by Lu to a higher court.
Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling was final and rejected Lee’s argument that he was only trying to express an opinion, which is protected under freedom of speech laws. The court, however, said Lee had attempted to present his suspicions as fact.
Lee told a press conference yesterday that the ruling was politically motivated and unacceptable. Questions remained over the lengthy prison sentence, he said, adding that it was disproportionate for a slander case.
“Members of the legal profession have told me it doesn’t fit the criteria of a slander case and that even if it did, [the penalty] should only be a fine,” he said.
Other DPP heavyweights spoke against the ruling yesterday, with former DPP lawmaker Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) saying the development was another example of the nation’s flawed judicial system.
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