Shortly after outgoing president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) handed over the presidency yesterday morning, the Supreme Prosecutors Office declared the former president a defendant in their investigation into Chen’s handling of his “state affairs fund.”
“Prosecutors do not prohibit Chen from leaving the country,” Chu Chao-liang (朱朝亮), a prosecutor with the Supreme Prosecutors Office, told a press conference yesterday.
Chu added that according to Article 26 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), former presidents must apply with the Presidential Office before they leave the country.
Prosecutors have informed the Presidential Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Immigration Agency, National Police Agency and Coast Guard Administration that they must report to prosecutors if they learn that Chen plans to leave the country, Chu said.
Chu added that prosecutors would soon summon Chen for questioning over the state affairs fund investigation.
Taipei district prosecutors indicted former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) in November 2006 on corruption and forgery charges in connection with the handling of the “state affairs fund.”
The district prosecutors added that outgoing president Chen is also suspected of graft and forgery, but could not be charged because of presidential immunity.
The district prosecutors at the time said Chen would be charged after he left office.
Prosecutors have said that Wu is suspected of pocketing a total of NT$14,800,408 (US$449,600) from the state affairs fund through filing receipts for purchases not related to state affairs.
Wu is suspected of using receipts from a number of people, including her friends Lee Bi-chun (李碧君) and Tsai Mei-li (蔡美利) and members of the first family, to have their personal expenses reimbursed from the fund from July 2002 to March this year, prosecutors said.
During two interviews with prosecutors on Aug. 7 and Oct. 27, the president claimed that the receipts used to claim reimbursements were used to conduct six secret diplomatic missions. But the district prosecutors said they learned that while two of the diplomatic missions were real, the suspects failed to offer any proof that the other four were real.
The Presidential Office said in October that documents detailing the contents of the projects were classified information under the protection of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act and said prosecutors and the court could not see them.
Chu said yesterday that prosecutors had asked the Presidential Office to review the documents.
If prosecutors and the court can use them as legal evidence, it would be helpful, Chu said.
Chen yesterday volunteered as a recycling worker with the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation in Taipei.
Chen said he thought he would be happier as a volunteer than as president.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
RSS