PureInsight | June 8, 2015
[PureInsight.org] Recently, the leader of Taiwan Patriotic Union Mr. Zhou Qingjue personally published an apology to the former director of The Taiwan Falun Gong Association Mr. Zhang Qingxi in two major newspapers in Taiwan.
Mr. Zhou has been slandering Falun Gong in public for quite some time; the website of the Taiwan Patriotic Union has also published many slanderous articles against Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners sued Mr. Zhou a while ago for his malicious attacks against Falun Gong, the Taiwan Supreme Court recently processed this case and ruled that Mr. Zhou had to publicly apologize for his remarks against Falun Gong, the court also fined Mr. Zhou 20,000 Taiwan dollars; the derogatory articles on the Patriotic Union’s website also had to be deleted.
The former director of The Taiwan Falun Gong Association Mr. Zhang said, “Freedom of speech doesn’t mean that one has the right to prohibit others from speaking out against being persecuted. Freedom of religion doesn’t call for slanderous attacks on other people’s faith, or attempting to prevent other people from practicing their religions.”
People from the Patriotic Union have been publicly abusing Falun Gong practitioners for quite some time on the street near Taiwan’s famous 101 Building; these people have been trying very hard to instigate hatred against Falun Gong practitioners as well. The Union’s leader Mr. Zhou had already been prosecuted by the local court in Taipei for his blatant abuse of Falun Gong practitioners. A civil case against Mr. Zhou of damaging other people’s reputations had also been lodged in the Supreme Court of Taiwan.
Mr. Zhang said, “The court’s order of monetary punishment, deletion of improper articles as well as public apologies, really show what it means for genuine freedom of speech and freedom of religion in Taiwan.”
The decision made by the Supreme Court against Mr. Zhou clearly shows that all the remarks previously made by people from the Union against Falun Gong were nothing but slanderous lies; it also shows how different Taiwan is from mainland China.
Spokeswoman for Taiwan Falun Gong Human Rights Lawyers Group Ms. Zhu Wanqi said, “This decision by the Supreme Court clearly shows the difference between Taiwan and China. Inside China today, many Falun Gong practitioners are still being persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime, the regime has carried out various forms of persecution including live organ harvesting, physical torture and hatred propaganda against Falun Gong and its practitioners since July 20, 1999, yet there is simply no legal recourse for Falun Gong practitioners in China whatsoever. In today’s democratic Taiwan, the legal system here won't allow people like those from the Patriotic Union to publicly make hatred speeches against Falun Gong.”
Translated from: http://news.zhengjian.org/node/25615
