Chen Shui-bian's son loses prostitution libel lawsuit

The court did not only throw out the case but also stated in the verdict that Chen Chih-chung had patronized prostitutes as reported by the Chinese-language Next magazine, which is an affiliate of the Apple Daily.

The weekly in July ran a story with photos of a woman, who claimed to be a sex worker paid by Chen, getting out of a car he owned, although Chen was not photographed with her.

Chen has persistently claimed that he only loaned his car to a friend and that the report was a ploy to sabotage his campaign. He is currently running for city councilor in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second-largest city.

He took Next magazine to court and demanded compensation of NT$2 million.

The court said in a statement that the suit filed by Chen had been dismissed as Next magazine provided proof of its claims and should be protected by the freedom of speech.

According to the verdict, there were 28 calls through mobile phones owned respectively by Chen and the mysterious prostitute between the months of March and July this year.

The two handsets had repeatedly appeared on the network simultaneously in the districts of Kaohsiung City, where Chen presently lives, and Taipei City in the same months, according to evidence presented to the court.

Judge Hung Nung-chao pointed out that Chen should allow security guards at his apartment building to secure the surveillance camera tape so that he could present it as evidence showing he was actually at home during the time that the publication alleged that he was out with call girls.

However, Chen refused to provide the tape as evidence in his favor.

The judge also noted that Chen rejected four summons to the court to explain about his use of mobile phones and answer questions about if he had ever visited the motel as reported by the weekly.

Chen, accompanied by his wife Huang Jui-ching, held a press conference to blast the court ruling. He claimed that he was politically persecuted ahead of the key regional elections, which is set for Nov. 27.

“The judge dismissed evidence favoring me and I was subjected to unfair and unjust treatment. This is political persecution aimed at scaring me,” he told reporters.

Huang reaffirmed her trust in Chen and emphasized that she absolutely believes that her husband would never patronize a sex worker.

She said there were always weird rulings concerning cases involving her family.

Former President Chen and his wife were already convicted in cases involving embezzlement of state funds, money laundering, forgery and more bribery claims.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

PrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email