Taiwan’s ex-leader cleared in libel case

Taipei, April 11: Taiwan’s ex-President Ma Ying-jeou, who has faced a string of lawsuits since stepping down last year, scored a legal victory on Tuesday in a defamation case against a commentator who claimed he had taken illicit donations.

Mr Ma filed the libel lawsuit in 2014 against radio show host Clara Chou for alleging that he accepted $6.5 million from scandalhit food giant Ting Hsin International Group in exchange for favours.

The high court overturned a previous ruling and convicted Mr Chou of defaming the former president as she “failed to thoroughly verify” the allegations before reporting them.

Mr Ma firmly rejected Mr Chou’s accusations, saying his government fully investigated the company’s alleged involvement in a number of food safety scandals and indicted dozens of people.

The verdict, which requires Chou to either pay a fine or serve a 50-day prison sentence, is Mr Ma’s second legal victory after a district court last month found him not guilty in a political leaks case.

But the ex-leader faces a new trial starting on Friday after state prosecutors brought fresh leaks charges against him last month.

Ma has maintained his innocence and vowed to “fight to the end for justice”.

Ma had immunity from prosecution while in office. But since he stepped down in May last year after serving two terms, the 66-yearold has been hit with a raft of corruption and other allegations. Mr Ma’s Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party held power from 2008 to 2016, before it was trounced by Tsai Ing-wen.