Former Legislator Lin Kuo-cheng Denies Guilt in Insulting President Case, Verdict Set for May 5
Former legislator Lin Kuo-cheng pleaded not guilty to insulting President Lai Ching-te, claiming his remarks were an agitated response to public issues, not a direct insult, and cited freedom of speech. The court's verdict is scheduled for May 5th.
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- 📰 Published: April 7, 2026 at 19:04
- 🔍 Collected: April 7, 2026 at 20:00 (56 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 20, 2026 at 13:42 (305h 41m after Collected)
The Democratic Progressive Party held a rally in front of the DPP headquarters in July last year. At that time, Lin Kuo-cheng, then a legislator for the Taiwan People's Party, allegedly used foul language to insult President Lai. President Lai filed a lawsuit. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted Lin Kuo-cheng on February 12 this year for public insult under the Criminal Code and requested the court to impose a heavy sentence.
During the hearing at the Taipei District Court today, Lin Kuo-cheng pleaded not guilty. He did not deny saying the words but argued that it was due to seeing how hard disaster victims worked to rebuild their homes after a typhoon, feeling that the government had failed them, and that when he was on stage, someone in the audience cursed him. In a moment of emotional agitation and inability to control himself, he blurted it out. However, he claimed that after the first sentence, he spoke in Taiwanese saying "打領帶" (dǎ lǐng dài - to tie a tie), which was not an insult to President Lai.
Judge Lu Zheng-ye asked why, after cursing with "three-character curse" in the first sentence, he later switched to Taiwanese "打領帶." Lin Kuo-cheng replied that he actually always said "打領帶" in every event, and that was his bottom line, he would not follow the crowd.
Lin Kuo-cheng's appointed lawyer stated that according to the reasoning in Constitutional Court Judgment No. 3 of 113 (2024), the elements of public insult are restricted, especially for political language, which relates to public interest and enjoys higher protection of freedom of speech. The lawyer cited an example of DPP legislator Huang Jie being verbally abused in comments on Facebook, stating that although the language was vulgar, the court considered it related to public interest and a matter that could be commented upon.
Lin Kuo-cheng's appointed lawyer added that although they pleaded not guilty, if the judge finds him guilty, they request that the court consider that Lin Kuo-cheng was speaking on public issues, apologized twice on Facebook, and has not withdrawn them, and therefore requests leniency.
At the end of the hearing, Lu Zheng-ye asked Lin Kuo-cheng if he pleaded guilty and accepted a fine of NT$1,000. After thinking, Lin Kuo-cheng still maintained that he was commenting on public issues, not insulting President Lai, and respected the judge's decision. The judge set the first-instance verdict for the case for May 5th at 2:25 PM. (Editor: Zhang Ya-jing) 1150407
During the hearing at the Taipei District Court today, Lin Kuo-cheng pleaded not guilty. He did not deny saying the words but argued that it was due to seeing how hard disaster victims worked to rebuild their homes after a typhoon, feeling that the government had failed them, and that when he was on stage, someone in the audience cursed him. In a moment of emotional agitation and inability to control himself, he blurted it out. However, he claimed that after the first sentence, he spoke in Taiwanese saying "打領帶" (dǎ lǐng dài - to tie a tie), which was not an insult to President Lai.
Judge Lu Zheng-ye asked why, after cursing with "three-character curse" in the first sentence, he later switched to Taiwanese "打領帶." Lin Kuo-cheng replied that he actually always said "打領帶" in every event, and that was his bottom line, he would not follow the crowd.
Lin Kuo-cheng's appointed lawyer stated that according to the reasoning in Constitutional Court Judgment No. 3 of 113 (2024), the elements of public insult are restricted, especially for political language, which relates to public interest and enjoys higher protection of freedom of speech. The lawyer cited an example of DPP legislator Huang Jie being verbally abused in comments on Facebook, stating that although the language was vulgar, the court considered it related to public interest and a matter that could be commented upon.
Lin Kuo-cheng's appointed lawyer added that although they pleaded not guilty, if the judge finds him guilty, they request that the court consider that Lin Kuo-cheng was speaking on public issues, apologized twice on Facebook, and has not withdrawn them, and therefore requests leniency.
At the end of the hearing, Lu Zheng-ye asked Lin Kuo-cheng if he pleaded guilty and accepted a fine of NT$1,000. After thinking, Lin Kuo-cheng still maintained that he was commenting on public issues, not insulting President Lai, and respected the judge's decision. The judge set the first-instance verdict for the case for May 5th at 2:25 PM. (Editor: Zhang Ya-jing) 1150407