Political commentator Wu Tzu-chia (吳子嘉) was sentenced to eight months in prison today for aggravated defamation over claims of corruption in the government’s procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.
The sentence can be commuted to a fine of NT$1,000 per day and can be appealed.
Wu in 2022 claimed that then-minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and then-premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) earned US$100 million through a government purchase of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Wu alleged that the contract in question was sealed for 30 years and cannot be viewed, and that Chen and Su embezzled nearly NT$3 billion (US$98.93 million) from the vaccine procurement deal.
Chen and Su sued Wu for spreading false and malicious statements.
After an investigation, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Wu for aggressive defamation on Aug. 22 last year.
The Taipei District Court today sentenced Wu to six months in prison for defamation and four months for spreading defamatory statements in writing, to be served as a combined eight-month term.
In the civil lawsuits, the court found Wu’s remarks to be false and unverified, ordering him to pay Chen NT$3 million.
After an appeal, the amount was lowered to NT$2 million and the case is now awaiting trial at the Supreme Court.
The court also ordered Wu to pay Su NT$900,000, a decision that is currently being appealed at the High Court.
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