A university law professor is suing 108 people after comments she made in favor of abolishing the death penalty on a TV program triggered a series of what she called “insults” against her.
Lu Ying-chieh (盧映潔), a law professor at National Chung-Cheng University, told a program on Public Television Service on March 26 that she was in favor of ending the death penalty in Taiwan.
She also referred to an inmate on death row who on separate occasions had invited seven young girls on an Internet chat room to meet him late at night, whereupon he raped and killed them.
Lu asked whether the parents knew their children were on the Internet late at night and whether they knew their children were meeting strangers at 3am.
Lu’s remarks triggered criticism on a number of Web sites, with users saying Lu was blaming the victims and their parents rather than the perpetrator.
“There is a hole in her brain,” she is “retarded” and “moron professor” are some of the characterizations used in the posts.
Another one went so far as to say: “I hope her daughter gets raped and killed late at night.”
Lu initially filed slander lawsuits against 31 individuals on May 4, but the legal action did not stem the flow of insults. She sued more people later that month and again on Aug. 24, bringing the total number of people to 108.
Chiayi police said they had identified the 108 individuals, adding that many of them were highly educated. About 50 have been questioned by police.
Lu told reporters yesterday that while the remarks were against the law, she would withdraw her charges if the individuals concerned offered an apology and donated money to charity.
Police said two people with PhDs sued by Lu had settled out of court.
The controversy over abolishing the death penalty came to the fore in March when then-minister of justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) publicly stated her objections to capital punishment and said she would not approve any executions as minister.
Her statements led to public criticism, especially by victims’ families and legislators, and Wang later resigned.
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