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
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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