TAIPEI, (Reuters) – A man who tore the wig off a  telegenic Taiwan legislator last year was sentenced to five  months in jail for depriving the MP of his freedom to look  good, a court spokesman said yesterday.

The Taipei District Court sentenced Huang Yung-tien, 50, to  jail for snatching the toupee off the head of ruling  Nationalist Party lawmaker Chiu Yi. Chiu has become a household  name for his media-friendly offensives against the political  opposition.

“The judge thought Chiu Yi had the freedom to wear what he  wanted, and Chiu felt the wig made him look prettier,” court  spokesman Huang Chin-ming said. “The judge thinks that to  remove it intentionally was to take away that right.”

Chiu lost his wig, revealing a mostly bald head, when he  went to file a complaint against former president Chen  Shui-bian in December. Huang, the leader of pro-Chen group, called the sentence  excessive, local media said. “I wasn’t careful,” he was quoted  saying. “Carelessness is so severe?”