The High Court today dismissed a case in which two people allegedly paid others to post criticism of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office’s Osaka branch over its handling of evacuations from Japan following a 2018 typhoon.
This came after the Constitutional Court last year ruled that insulting public officials is punishable under the Constitution, while defaming a public office is not, sending the case back to the High Court for a retrial.
The case, dubbed the “Kansai Airport incident,” involved Yang Hui-ju (楊蕙如), who was indicted over comments online that accused the office of failing to offer timely help to Taiwanese in Japan during Typhoon Jebi, which made landfall in Japan on Sept. 4, 2018.
Photo: Wen Yu-te, Taipei Times
Yang allegedly instructed Tsai Fu-ming (蔡福明) and others to generate discussion on PTT about the event.
Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), who was director-general of the office at the time, committed suicide at his residence eight days later.
In the first trial, Yang and Tsai were each sentenced to six months in jail, commutable to a fine of NT$180,000, for contravening Article 140 of the Criminal Code.
Article 140 stipulates a prison sentence of up to one year or a fine of up to NT$100,000 for “insult[ing] a public official during the discharge of his legal duties or publicly mak[ing] insults about his discharge of such legal duties.”
Yang and Tsai appealed to the High Court, which sentenced them each to five months in jail, commutable to a fine of NT$150,000.
The former ruling sentenced Yang and Tsai for defaming a public office, while the second ruling found them guilty of defaming a public official during the discharge of their duties.
Yang then sought a constitutional interpretation, saying that Article 140 contravenes constitutionally guaranteed free speech.
The Constitutional Court said that Article 140 has two parts, one referring to “slandering or defaming a public official” and one to “slandering or defaming a public office,” and ruled that the first part is punishable under the law while the second part is not.
The High Court then said that after the interpretation, punishments for “slandering or defaming a public official” have “lost their effectiveness.”
It therefore revoked its original ruling, saying the two offenses are no longer punishable.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face