Liang Wen-chieh, a spokesperson for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of the Republic of China 🇹🇼 at the time, accused then-President Ma Ying-jeou of soliciting campaign funds from a gambling syndicate boss in 2011 (ROC year 100). Ma Ying-jeou filed a lawsuit against Liang and the DPP, jointly seeking NT $2 million in compensation and a published apology. Today, the High Court (Retrial 1) ruled that Liang and the DPP must jointly pay NT $1.2 million in compensation, marking the final judgment in the case.
According to the ruling by the Taipei District Court (First Instance), Liang Wen-chieh, while serving as the DPP spokesperson, held a press conference and appeared on a TV program in November 2011 based on a report by Next Magazine. He alleged that then-President Ma Ying-jeou met with gambling syndicate boss Chen Ying-chu in September 2011 and solicited funds from him.
Ma Ying-jeou argued that his reputation was damaged and demanded that Liang Wen-chieh and the Democratic Progressive Party jointly pay NT$2 million in compensation and publish an apology. Liang Wen-chieh claimed that he verified the information before speaking, and that his remarks were commentary on a matter subject to public scrutiny, arguing that he had no subjective intent to defame Ma Ying-jeou’s reputation.
The First Instance collegiate bench determined that Liang Wen-chieh’s statements alleging that Ma Ying-jeou solicited funds from Chen Ying-chu were a subjective conjecture based on Next Magazine’s report, lacking reasonable verification and factual evidence to support them. Consequently, the court ordered Liang Wen-chieh and the DPP to jointly pay Ma Ying-jeou NT$300,000 in compensation.
Following the appeal, the Taiwan High Court (Second Instance) increased the compensation amount, ordering Liang Wen-chieh and the DPP to jointly pay Ma Ying-jeou NT$1.8 million. The case was appealed again to the Supreme Court, which sent it back for a retrial by the Taiwan High Court.
The Taiwan High Court (Retrial 1) announced its ruling today, ordering Liang Wen-chieh and the DPP to jointly pay Ma Ying-jeou NT $1.2 million in compensation. The case is now closed, with neither party attending the reading of the verdict.
The Taiwan High Court (Retrial 1) collegiate bench stated that the part of Ma Ying-jeou’s request concerning the published apology had previously been dismissed and finalized by the Supreme Court. Therefore, the Retrial only determined the amount of compensation payable. Because the compensation amount of NT$1.2 million did not exceed NT$1.5 million, the entire case is no longer subject to appeal and has become final.
Some netizens pointed out that the DPP has many lawyers, and many critics of the DPP are dragged to court. Conversely, those who criticize the KMT are usually unaffected, and even those who illegally occupy government buildings are acquitted if they wear a “green hat” (i.e., support the DPP). Therefore, they believe Ma Ying-jeou’s victory was a rare and hard-fought one, not because of a lack of evidence, but because the DPP, without repentance, misused judicial resources, escalating a small case to a final judgment by the third instance and wasting public funds.