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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Crime & Justice

Four Arrested After Two Couples Fight Over Phone Noise at Kaohsiung Cinema

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Explainer Named sources Under investigation
  • Police detained four people after two couples fought outside a cinema in Kaohsiung over a phone that was not set to silent during a film.
  • All four people filed complaints alleging assault and defamation, and police also referred them under Taiwan’s Social Order Maintenance Act.
  • Lawyer Wang Chih-te said self-defense depends on whether a person is stopping an ongoing attack, rather than simply responding because the other person struck first.

A phone left audible during a midnight movie ended with two couples fighting outside a cinema in Kaohsiung, with the women pulling each other’s hair before their male partners joined in.

The confrontation took place at the Far Eastern Department Store Vieshow Cinemas in Kaohsiung’s Lingya District on Aug. 30. During a local film, a woman identified by the surname Kuo was told by a neighboring woman, identified as Lee, to silence her phone. An argument followed after the movie ended, when the two women encountered each other outside the theater.

How old are you? You’re watching a movie and you still don’t turn off the sound! What the hell are you doing? F*** your mother, f*** off! Enough already?

— LeeThe woman confronted the other moviegoer after the film ended, according to the account of the confrontation.

The women pushed and grappled, and Kuo was pinned to the ground. Lee shouted, “How old are you? You’re watching a movie and you still don’t turn off the sound! What the hell are you doing? F*** your mother, f*** off! Enough already?” The two women’s boyfriends then became involved, drawing other moviegoers who tried to stop the fight.

The law has never given anyone the right to hit back endlessly for free just because they were struck first.

— Wang Chih-teThe lawyer rejected the idea that being hit first automatically establishes self-defense.

Police took all four people into custody. Each side filed assault and defamation complaints, and police referred the case to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office. The four were also referred for possible action under Article 87 of Taiwan’s Social Order Maintenance Act, which covers assault, mutual fighting and gathering with the intention to fight, with a possible fine of up to NT$18,000.

Lawyer Wang Chih-te said the common belief that a person can freely hit back after being struck first is wrong. Self-defense applies when someone acts to stop an ongoing unlawful attack. Pushing an attacker away or restraining the person may qualify, even if the attacker is injured. But continuing to attack after the danger has stopped, or after the people have been separated, may be treated as retaliation or mutual fighting. Wang said investigators will consider surveillance footage, witness accounts, injuries and the sequence of the confrontation. His closing advice was simple: moviegoers should remember to silence their phones.

The key distinction between self-defense and retaliation is whether the action is still intended to stop an ongoing attack.

— Wang Chih-teHe explained the legal test for distinguishing defensive action from a counterattack.
About this summary

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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