The Taipei Shilin District Court recently rejected an appeal by university student Sun Chih-yu (孫致宇), who threw a pair of slippers at Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) in a movie theater last year in an attempt to draw the premier’s attention to a labor dispute.
The court upheld its ruling last year that fined Sun NT$5,000 for her actions under the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
Sun, 23, from Greater Kaohsiung, said on Saturday she was dissatisfied with the ruling, which is final, and does not regret her action.
Although Sun thinks that throwing slippers is a part of her freedom of expression, the court ruled that her action was disrespectful to people who value stability.
The judges ruled that the act of slipper-throwing is scornful, belittles people, threatens others’ safety and obstructs official and normal social activities.
The motivation behind the act was legitimate, but the choice of method was improper, according to the judges.
The court said there are many ways in which Sun could have chosen to express her support for the workers, but she chose to harm the reasonable expectations that the premier, security personnel and filmmakers could have about their work.
The motivation does not justify the means, judges said.
Sun’s lawyer said Sun would seek a Council of Grand Justices’ constitutional interpretation on articles in the Social Order Maintenance Act that counter the freedom of speech protected by the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution.
The incident occurred during a screening of Beyond Beauty — Taiwan From Above (看見台灣) held by the Executive Yuan.
Sun is a senior at National Tsing Hua University and has been active in social movements, including the recent student-led protests against the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade pact.
Sun said she does not agree with the judges’ view that her slipper-throwing act was scornful and threatened the safety of other people, saying that the pair of slippers weighed less than 100 grams and that Sun did not carry weapons.
She said she threw her slippers because efforts to petition for former Hualon factory workers who say the company has failed to pay them their wages have run up against a wall. She said she was “reasonably” expressing her views and that her actions are protected by the Constitution.
A judge who spoke on condition of anonymity said the court ruling is a declaration of support for the rule of law and defines shoe-throwing as an improper and illegal behavior.
If such behavior were allowed, it would encourage more shoe-throwing and trample on human dignity and the rule of law, he said.
However, a lawyer said, that the court should be more tolerant because Sun’s action did not pose an immediate danger to the people involved and that her motives were pure.
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