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BackSu Huanzhi posted an article pointing out that there were police officers making origami lotus flowers in the funeral hall of Huang Chengguo's father, and the second trial upheld the acquittal verdict.
Su Huanzhi posted an article pointing out that there were police officers making origami lotus flowers in the funeral hall of Huang Chengguo's father, and the second trial upheld the acquittal verdict.
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自由时报7 hours agoLaw2 min readChinaView original

Su Huanzhi posted an article pointing out that there were police officers making origami lotus flowers in the funeral hall of Huang Chengguo's father, and the second trial upheld the acquittal verdict.

Quick Look

  • Former Tainan County Mayor Su Huanzhi posted on Facebook before the 2022 nine-in-one election, pointing out that after the death of former national policy adviser Huang Chengguo’s father, many high-ranking police officers went to the mourning hall to make origami lotus flowers.
  • Huang Chengguo filed a lawsuit for defamation, and the Taipei District Court found that the origami lotus flower was a neutral term in the first instance and found Su not guilty.
  • Huang appealed, but Taiwan's High Court today rejected the appeal and upheld his acquittal.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

Su Huanzhi is the former mayor of Tainan County and once ran for mayor of Taipei. Huang Chengguo is a former national policy adviser. His father passed away in March 2020. Su Huanzhi posted on Facebook before the 2022 9-in-1 election, pointing out that a high-ranking police officer origami lotus flower was found in Huang's Father's Funeral Hall, and questioned its influence.

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Before the nine-in-one election for county mayor and county mayor in 2022, former Tainan County Mayor Su Huanzhi posted on Facebook one after another pointing out that after former national policy adviser Huang Chengguo’s father passed away in 2020, many high-ranking police officers went to Huang’s father’s funeral hall to origami lotus flowers. Huang Chengguo was dissatisfied and filed a lawsuit for defamation. The Taipei District Court of first instance found that origami lotus was a neutral term and was not enough to damage reputation, and found Su Huanzhi not guilty. Huang appealed, and the second instance high court dismissed the appeal and upheld the acquittal.

The verdict pointed out that Huang Chengguo claimed that when his father passed away in March 2020, no high-ranking police officers went to the mourning hall to origami flowers. Su Huanzhi knew this, but published three articles on Facebook from October 12 to 15, 2022, alleging that "After the father of former national policy adviser Huang Chengguo passed away, a DPP legislator also went to pay homage and twist incense first. As a result, he found a pile of county and city-level incense." and the police chief of the central unit, actually went to Muzha Guozai's house to fold paper lotus flowers." "Who gave Aguo such a great power to counsel the promotion of high-ranking national police officers?" "Obviously, if the promotion of these high-ranking police officers was not through the channels of Muzha Guozai, how could they be so obedient?", "Having so many high-ranking police officers come to visit and fold lotus paper represents Huang's substantial influence." etc.

Please read on...

After Huang Chengguo learned of the article, he sued Su Huanzhi for defamation. After investigation, the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office concluded that Su Huanzhi is a practicing lawyer and former legislator with considerable legal expertise. He has also served as Tainan County Magistrate, a regular guest on political commentary programs, and has run for public office many times. His remarks are highly disseminated and influential. However, they have not provided evidence to prove that there is sufficient reason to believe that what they said is true, and they are not fully reasonable. The obligation to verify is that the statement was deliberately made two years after the incident and one month before the election. At that time, Su was running for mayor of Taipei. The article was accompanied by sensational and sensitive remarks such as black money and corruption to gain publicity and attention. The purpose was obviously to increase publicity and exposure. The statement was not made in good faith and had real malice. Su was prosecuted.

The judge of the Taipei District Court of first instance believed that based on the context of Su’s article, Su was recounting what he saw when a Democratic Progressive Party legislator came to pay homage and burn incense after Huang’s father passed away. In traditional customs, origami lotus flowers symbolize the removal of karma for the deceased, the salvation of their enemies and creditors, and the escape from suffering. Su's article meant that police chiefs at the county, city and central level came to the Huang family to help Huang's father clear away his karma and resolve grievances. It was a neutral statement that was objectively difficult to determine as enough to damage Huang's reputation and did not meet the requirements for defamation. The article was a matter of appropriate comment that could be publicly commented and should be protected by freedom of speech. Su was found not guilty.

Huang Chengguo appealed. After hearing the case, the High Court announced today that the appeal was dismissed and the acquittal verdict of the first instance was upheld. The entire case was confirmed.

Open Questions

  • Is it true that a high-ranking police officer went to Huang Chengguo's father's funeral hall to origami lotus flowers?
  • Did Su Huanzhi know this fact in detail or just heard about it?
  • Does the origami lotus flower have a specific political or social symbolic meaning in this context?

Related Topics

This article was originally published by 自由时报.

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