Taiwan's Ma indicts commentator for suspected libel

Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou on Tuesday filed criminal and civil suits against a well known commentator who claimed that Ma accepted political donations from a local corporation.

Ma accused Clara Chou of aggravated libel and demanded compensation of 10 million new Taiwan dollars (315,000 U.S. dollars), along with apologies published in Taiwan's four major newspapers.

Chou was expelled from the Kuomintang (KMT) Tuesday for her frequent verbal attacks, according to the KMT Central Discipline Committee, saying her public comments have "obviously damaged the party's reputation and interests and violated its disciplinary code."

Recently, Chou claimed that Ma took 200 million new Taiwan dollars in political donations from the Ting Hsin International Group, which has been involved in a food safety scandal. Ma has repeatedly denied the allegations.