The wife of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has been barred from leaving the country during her ongoing trial on corruption and forgery charges, a court official said yesterday.
“Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) has made public appearances — which were broadcast by the media — showing she was able to move around ... therefore we have decided to prevent her from leaving the country,” said Taipei District Court spokesman Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩).
Liu was referring to Wu’s visits to polling stations for parliamentary and presidential elections earlier this year.
The wheelchair-bound Wu collapsed in court in late 2006 at the start of her trial and has since been excused from all court sessions on health grounds.
Wu has pleaded not guilty to charges that she illegally claimed NT$14.8 million (US$450,000) in personal expenses from state funds.
Chen was also named a suspect in 2006 but escaped immediate prosecution because of presidential immunity. But prosecutors launched a corruption probe against Chen less than an hour after he lost his immunity on Tuesday when new President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office.
The former president has admitted using false receipts to claim money from the state, but insisted those funds were used for “secret diplomatic missions” and not for his personal benefit.
Prosecutors, however, allege at least US$1.5 million was spent on diamond rings and other luxury items for his wife.
Chen has repeatedly insisted that he and his family are innocent.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
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