Taiwan Ex-leader Chen Shui-bian formally detained
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s former president Chen Shui-bian was formally detained Wednesday after a bid by prosecutors to take him into custody was approved by a court, officials said.
“The court has approved prosecutors’ request to detain Chen after an overnight hearing,” an official at the Taipei district court said.
Chen is the first former Taiwanese president to be formally taken into custody in a graft scandal that has gripped the island for months.
Police have tightened security around the Tucheng detention centre where Chen will be held amid threats from his supporters to launch protests against what they say was an “unfair trial.”
Chen was arrested Tuesday on charges of money laundering, embezzling government funds, taking bribes and forging documents, a spokesman for the investigation said.
A defiant Chen put his handcuffed hands in the air as he stepped out of the prosecutor’s office and shouted “political persecution” before getting into a waiting car.
The court hearing to decide if prosecutors could detain him had to be suspended late Tuesday as the ex-Taiwan president was taken to hospital saying he was attacked by a court policeman during his arrest and suffered injuries.
The prosecutors flatly rejected Chen’s accusation.
“The former president was handcuffed and escorted to take the waiting car, all witnessed by his lawyers…. The former president’s accusation was totally untrue,” a spokesman for the prosecutors said.
The court later resumed the hearing.
Chen, who retired in May after eight years in power, is under investigation for allegedly embezzling 14.8 million Taiwan dollars (480,500 US) from the government.
Under interrogation Tuesday, Chen chose not to answer some questions.
He has accused the China-friendly Kuomintang government of persecuting him under pressure from Beijing, which considers Taiwan a renegade province to be reunified with China, by force if necessary.
“The KMT and the Chinese Communist Party see me as their number one prisoner as I am the biggest stone blocking their way to reunification,” the pro-independence Chen told reporters.
He accused his successor, Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou, of pursuing a political agenda and punishing him for violent demonstrations during a visit by Beijing’s top envoy to the island last week.
“Ma Ying-jeou wants to put me in jail as a sacrifice to appease China,” he said.
The Chinese envoy’s historic visit to Taipei strengthened economic ties between China and Taiwan but was marred by huge anti-Beijing protests that left scores injured.
Chen’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) immediately cried foul after Tuesday’s arrest, saying it was politically motivated.
But Kuomintang lawmaker Lee Ching-hua hailed the move as “belated justice.”
Chen has previously admitted using false receipts to claim money from the state, but insisted those funds were used for “secret diplomatic missions,” not personal benefit.
The ex-leader, his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and brother-in-law have all been named as defendants in a separate money laundering case.
Taiwanese prosecutors say 21 million US dollars was sent to Swiss bank accounts belonging to Chen’s daughter-in-law in 2007. The funds have since been frozen.
Chen has admitted his wife wired 20 million US dollars abroad from past campaign funds but said she did so without his knowledge. He denies laundering money.
world News
Taiwan Ex-leader Chen Shui-bian formally detained
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s former president Chen Shui-bian was formally detained Wednesday after a bid by prosecutors to take him into custody was approved by a court, officials said.
“The court has approved prosecutors’ request to detain Chen after an overnight hearing,” an official at the Taipei district court said.
Chen is the first former Taiwanese president to be formally taken into custody in a graft scandal that has gripped the island for months.
Police have tightened security around the Tucheng detention centre where Chen will be held amid threats from his supporters to launch protests against what they say was an “unfair trial.”
Chen was arrested Tuesday on charges of money laundering, embezzling government funds, taking bribes and forging documents, a spokesman for the investigation said.
A defiant Chen put his handcuffed hands in the air as he stepped out of the prosecutor’s office and shouted “political persecution” before getting into a waiting car.
The court hearing to decide if prosecutors could detain him had to be suspended late Tuesday as the ex-Taiwan president was taken to hospital saying he was attacked by a court policeman during his arrest and suffered injuries.
The prosecutors flatly rejected Chen’s accusation.
“The former president was handcuffed and escorted to take the waiting car, all witnessed by his lawyers…. The former president’s accusation was totally untrue,” a spokesman for the prosecutors said.
The court later resumed the hearing.
Chen, who retired in May after eight years in power, is under investigation for allegedly embezzling 14.8 million Taiwan dollars (480,500 US) from the government.
Under interrogation Tuesday, Chen chose not to answer some questions.
He has accused the China-friendly Kuomintang government of persecuting him under pressure from Beijing, which considers Taiwan a renegade province to be reunified with China, by force if necessary.
“The KMT and the Chinese Communist Party see me as their number one prisoner as I am the biggest stone blocking their way to reunification,” the pro-independence Chen told reporters.
He accused his successor, Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou, of pursuing a political agenda and punishing him for violent demonstrations during a visit by Beijing’s top envoy to the island last week.
“Ma Ying-jeou wants to put me in jail as a sacrifice to appease China,” he said.
The Chinese envoy’s historic visit to Taipei strengthened economic ties between China and Taiwan but was marred by huge anti-Beijing protests that left scores injured.
Chen’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) immediately cried foul after Tuesday’s arrest, saying it was politically motivated.
But Kuomintang lawmaker Lee Ching-hua hailed the move as “belated justice.”
Chen has previously admitted using false receipts to claim money from the state, but insisted those funds were used for “secret diplomatic missions,” not personal benefit.
The ex-leader, his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and brother-in-law have all been named as defendants in a separate money laundering case.
Taiwanese prosecutors say 21 million US dollars was sent to Swiss bank accounts belonging to Chen’s daughter-in-law in 2007. The funds have since been frozen.
Chen has admitted his wife wired 20 million US dollars abroad from past campaign funds but said she did so without his knowledge. He denies laundering money.
