A frail former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday pleaded not guilty to corruption charges in a pretrial hearing held at a Taipei court.
“I am not guilty because I have not committed any crimes,” he told a panel of three judges at the Taipei District Court, when asked whether he admitted to charges of embezzling and accepting bribes.
Chen is charged with pocketing some NT$1.5 billion (US$44 million), including a bribe of US$9 million in a land deal and money from his presidential “state affairs fund.” He is also charged with money laundering, forgery and influence peddling.
Yesterday’s hearing concerned the embezzlement and bribery charges.
Chen, brought to court in handcuffs from the Taipei Detention Center, told the court that testimony against him by several witnesses had been tampered with and demanded it be thrown out.
He also questioned the impartiality of Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) and three prosecutors involved in the case.
“I always respected the judicial system but I can’t trust it any more. Prosecutors have stooped so low as to become political tools ... some intervened in political and partisan affairs,” he told the judges.
“Nobody can trust the way prosecutors conduct their interrogations as they seem biased or have a personal agenda,” he said, referring to testimony concerning the land deal.
Chen said if the judicial system were neutral, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) would be questioned for alleged wrongdoings.
Chen said Special Investigation Panel (SIP) Prosecutor Chu Chao-liang (朱朝亮) told him and his wife during a raid on Aug. 16 that he had information indicating that Lee and the Taiwan Solidarity Union had received a donation of between NT$200 million and NT$300 million from the Chinese Communist Party.
Lee also allegedly laundered money through dummy accounts, Chen said, but the SIP decided not to investigate. He did not elaborate.
Chen also said that SIP Prosecutor Wu Wen-chung (吳文忠) had prevented a scandal involving an alleged DVD recording of Ma and former radio DJ Charles Mack having intimate relations.
Mack, a US citizen, was repatriated on Feb. 6, 2004, after law enforcement officers claimed that he had intimate relations after being diagnosed with syphilis and had not told his partners.
Mack had been married to Chang Wei-chin (張瑋津), who claimed she was a good friend of Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍).
Chen said Chang had a DVD of Mack and Ma having intimate relations and intended to use the DVD to ruin Ma’s presidential prospects last year. Wu Wen-chung used his position as a prosecutor to stop Chang, Chen said.
The court ordered a short recess when a feeble-looking Chen, who had stopped eating for four days ahead of the trial, said he was feeling unwell.
Chen’s lawyers told reporters before the court session that they suspected prosecutors of tampering with testimony and threatened to sue those involved for encouraging perjury and abuse of authority.
The lawyers said they would also apply to the High Court later yesterday for Chen’s case to be moved to another court to ensure a fair hearing.
Two Chen supporters who managed to obtain court passes to yesterday’s hearing shouted “injustice” and “Long live Chen Shui-bian” in the middle of the proceedings before being expelled by the court.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) yesterday dismissed Chen’s allegation that Ma and Mack had had intimate relations.
“Mr Ma is very masculine. It is impossible for him to have had an affair with this guy nicknamed ‘Chocolate,’” Chang said.
KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) accused Chen of trying to ruin Ma’s reputation.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
Also See: Detention center boss apologizes for Chen interview
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS