Chiayi City Councilor's Assistant Sentenced to 3 Months for Defaming Wang Mei-hui and Others, Ruling Final

(Central News Agency, reporter Xie Junlin, Taipei, June 18) Li, an assistant to DPP Chiayi City Councilor Lin Wei-hsuan, was indicted for defaming fellow party member Legislator Wang Mei-hui and others. He was acquitted in the first trial. The second trial found that Li did not fulfill his duty of reasonable investigation and defamation, and sentenced him to 3 months in prison. The Supreme Court recently rejected his appeal, making the ruling final.

The Chiayi District Prosecutors Office's indictment stated that in September 2023, Li, an assistant to Lin Wei-hsuan, posted on the online forum PTT under the title "English Faction Wang Mei-hui's Black Gold Incident Book." The post insinuated an unusual relationship between Wang Mei-hui and a Mr. Jiang, also suggesting that Mr. Jiang used violent means to interfere in the speakership election, and that Wang Mei-hui's protégé, current city councilor Huang Min-hsiu, was involved in financial matters related to his bid for speakership.

The prosecution indicted Li on charges of defamation by spreading text. After trial, the Chiayi District Court in the first instance ruled that Li's statements were related to public political figures, and that Li made the statements based on certain objective facts, with a subjective reasonable belief in their truth. Even if the content was not proven to be objectively true, it was difficult to conclude that there was actual malice for defamation, and thus acquitted him.

The prosecutor appealed the verdict to the second instance, which was heard by the Taiwan High Court Tainan Branch. The collegiate bench held that it was difficult to say that Li had completed the prior reasonable investigation procedures before publishing the article, and that one cannot use the guise of scrutinizing political figures or discussing public issues to evade the duty of reasonable investigation and lightly infringe upon others' right to reputation. Therefore, the first instance acquittal was overturned, and he was sentenced to 3 months in prison. If a fine is commuted, it will be calculated at NT$1,000 per day.

Li appealed to the third instance. The Supreme Court held that the second instance judgment was not erroneous in its determination of facts or application of law, and rejected the appeal on the 4th, making the case final. (Editor: Xiao Bowen) 1150618

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