Woman Accused of Aggravated Defamation for Claiming Ri Chun Papaya Milk Used Moldy Papayas

Central News Agency (CNA)

(CNA reporter Lin Chang-Shun, Taipei, 30th) Ms. Wu, a former employee of "Ri Chun Papaya Milk," posted on Facebook in February claiming that a branch store used moldy papayas. The Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A8 store filed a lawsuit for defamation. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office, finding that Ms. Wu lacked concrete evidence to mislead the public, today indicted her on charges including aggravated defamation.

In February this year, a netizen claiming to be a veteran employee of Ri Chun Papaya Milk posted in a Facebook group, stating that the company, through on-site demonstrations and communication software, instructed employees not to discard rotten or moldy papayas. Instead, they were told to just cut off the unappealing parts, and the rest could still be made into products for sale. Employees were also told to "smell while cutting," and only if the entire papaya was spoiled could it be discarded, requiring photographic proof.

The post also listed a blacklist to alert netizens, including three branches in Taipei's Zhongshan, Datong, and Xinyi districts, as well as two branches in Taoyuan. The owner of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A8 franchise store, surnamed Lin, believed that the relevant posts referred to the Ri Chun A8 store using moldy papayas and other false statements, which were sufficient to damage the company's reputation, credit, and social standing, and filed a lawsuit for defamation and other charges.

During the investigation, Ms. Wu argued that in a conversation with Ri Chun Papaya Milk CEO Li, she mentioned that the Ri Chun Group had obtained unwanted rotten papayas (0-yuan papayas) from fruit farmers, and that the Ri Chun A8 store had independently sourced papayas from CEO Li, presenting relevant LINE chat records. However, prosecutors stated that CEO Li never mentioned where the so-called "0-yuan papayas" were actually used.

Additionally, Ms. Wu presented a chat in the "Tianmu Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Partner Group" that read "Xinyi Shin Kong 8th Hall = 6 boxes." Prosecutors stated that this chat could only prove that the Ri Chun A8 store had recorded incoming papayas, but could not confirm if they were the "0-yuan papayas" Ms. Wu referred to.

The prosecutors pointed out that Ms. Wu, based only on chat records that could not directly and concretely prove that the Ri Chun A8 store used moldy or blackened papayas to make papaya milk, deliberately and repeatedly mentioned "Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A8 Hall in Xinyi District," "Xinyi A8 Shin Kong Mitsukoshi," "Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A8 store," and "a certain 8th department store in Xinyi District, Taipei" in her Facebook post, directly implicating the Ri Chun A8 store, leading readers to believe that the Ri Chun A8 store made papaya milk with moldy papayas.

The prosecutors concluded that Ms. Wu still failed to provide concrete evidence to substantiate her claim that the Ri Chun A8 store used moldy or blackened papayas. By publishing false statements in a Facebook group with over 2 million members, she clearly caused damage to the plaintiff, and at the time of the act, there was clear malice or gross negligence. Today, Ms. Wu was indicted on charges of aggravated defamation and damaging credit under the Criminal Code. (Editor: Li Shu-Hua) 1150430