The High Court on Thursday upheld a three-month sentence that is commutable to a fine for a man who sprayed paint on Hong Kong democracy campaigner Denise Ho (何韻詩) in Taipei in 2019, dismissing an appeal by prosecutors for a harsher punishment.
The Taipei District Court in January sentenced the main attacker, Hu Chih-wei (胡志偉), to three months in prison, which could be commuted to a fine of NT$90,000, while 10 alleged accomplices were found not guilty.
A masked man threw red paint over Ho, a Hong Kong singer and democracy advocate, when she was being interviewed by reporters ahead of a protest in Taipei in September 2019 in support of Hong Kong’s democracy movement.
Photo: CNA
The attack left Ho’s hair and clothes covered in red paint.
The masked man and another person were immediately detained by police and later identified as Hu and Liang Tai-fu (梁太富) — members of the Taipei-based China Unification Promotion Party.
Further investigation led prosecutors in June 2020 to file four criminal charges — coercion, public humiliation, damage to property and obstruction of assembly — against Hu, Liang and nine other people identified as being involved in the attack.
However, the district court in January ruled that Hu was only liable for damage caused in the incident, handing down a three-month sentence.
Although evidence showed that Hu threw paint on Ho to humiliate her and ruin her clothes, the incident did not hinder Ho’s interview nor did it obstruct the protest, because Hu’s actions lasted a short time, the district court said.
The ruling also said that bad behavior by members of political parties is not a problem that can be solved by courts imposing heavy penalties, but rather requires politicians to set a good example and calm social antagonism.
Prosecutors had sought an eight-month sentence for Hu.
The High Court’s decision is final and cannot be appealed.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS