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High Court rejects appeal against former president's detention

ROC Central News Agency

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal against the detention of former President Chen Shui-bian filed by his lawyer, on grounds that the appeal was not signed by Chen and therefore did meet legal requirements.

Chen has been held at a detention center in suburban Taipei since Nov. 12 on suspicion of embezzlement, taking bribes, forgery and money laundering during his two terms as president between 2000 and 2008.

Although the former president had made it clear he would not appeal against his detention, his lawyer Cheng Wen-lung acted on his own initiative to file the appeal -- without Chen's signature.

The High Court indicated that it had notified Chen's lawyer on Nov. 18 that the omission should be corrected within three days after receipt of the notice, but the attorney failed to comply with the legal requirements.

News reports Wednesday claimed that Chen had asked to see his wife Wu Shu-jen or former Vice President Annette Lu, but the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors Office rejected his request on grounds that it was against the detention center's visitation rules.

Chen had hoped for the same treatment as Chiayi County Magistrate Chen Ming-wen, who was also on a hunger strike recently while in detention, according to the former president's lawyer.

Public prosecutors in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, allowed Cheng Ming-wen's wife Liao Su-hui to visit him in a hospital intensive care unit on Nov. 19 to persuade him to end his nine-day hunger strike. Two days later, he was released on bail of NT$3 million.

The Chiayi Public Prosecutors Office explained Wednesday that the visit, granted on humanitarian grounds, complied with visitation rules because Chen Ming-wen's wife was neither a co-conspirator nor a witness, and that there was no fear of collusion between them.

The magistrate was on hunger strike in protest against his three-week detention on charges of divulging the reserve price of a tender during the bidding process for a waste processing plant project in the county's Minhsiung township.

The prosecutors office pointed out that in the case of the former president, it was a completely different matter because his wife Wu Shu-jen was a "joint perpetrator" still under investigation.

Chen and his family have been dogged by corruption scandals since 2006 and are being investigated on a series of money-related criminal charges.

By mid-November, prosecutors of the Special Investigation Division had detained nine suspects involved in the corruption and money laundering cases, including Chen's former treasurer Chen Cheng-hui, former Presidential Office director Lin Teh-hsun, former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng.

Some of the suspects were released last week after prosecutors determined that there was no need to detain them further to prevent collusion. (By Han Nai-kuo) ENDITEM /pc