Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) appeared in court yesterday for his final pre-trial hearing in which the defense and the prosecution continued to argue over the need to summon potential witnesses.
At his hearing last Wednesday, Chen and his lawyers requested that the court summon more than 30 witnesses, including former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), former Chinese Nationalist Party chairman Lien Chan (連戰), Special Investigation Panel (SIP) prosecutor Yueh Fang-ju (越方如) and Chen's son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中).
Chen's lawyer, Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), yesterday asked the court to summon six more witnesses in connection with the presidential “state affairs fund” and the Longtan (龍潭) land deal cases. Cheng requested that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), among others, be summoned to clarify how the presidential “state affairs fund” is used.
PHOTO: CNA
Prosecutors dismissed the need to summon several witnesses, including Ma, Lee and Lien, saying they were irrelevant to the case.
In response, Cheng said that because the “state affairs fund” had always been used as a special fund by presidents and heads of government agencies, it was important to ask past and present presidents how they used the fund.
“Lee used a larger portion of the [fund] and the reimbursement process was not as secure. Why didn't the Special Investigation Panel investigate Lee? Does the SIP think his expenses are legal, but Chen Shui-bian's are illegal?” Cheng said.
Defense attorneys said Ma should be called as he declassified papers that had previously been classified under Chen Shui-bian's administration for political reasons, and the best way for the court to verify this was to call him to give testimony.
Yueh should be called to answer questions on whether prosecutors struck a deal with former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) to persuade him to return to Taiwan and testify against the former first family, Cheng said.
When the court asked for Chen Shui-bian's comment, the former president spoke for an hour.
Chen Shui-bian said he suspected foul play in the way prosecutor Eric Chen (陳瑞仁) questioned Lee about his usage of the “state affairs fund.”
“Eric Chen can question [Lee] for hours and then afterwards let Lee treat him to a meal ... This is very strange,” he said.
He then listed several instances in which Lien and Ma had inappropriately taken large amounts of money from special funds and used them for personal expenses.
Prosecutors rebutted the defense's arguments by saying that how the “state affairs fund” is used should be determined by law — not the subjective views given by witnesses.
Responding to an argument by Chen Shui-bian's lawyers that prosecutors have allowed politics to influence the case, prosecutor Lin Che-hui said: “Prosecutors act on behalf of the country, not any individual person.”
Lin said that Chen Shui-bian and his lawyers' attempt to politicize the case by “guessing at the motives behind the investigation is meaningless.”
He added that if the former president suspected prosecutors had cut a deal with Koo, this could be brought out during cross examination.
Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) later announced his decision, rejecting requests to summon Ma, Lee, Lien and Yueh, but approved the calling of 35 other witnesses.
Cheng also retracted his request to summon Chen Chih-chung to prevent the idea of a “huge confrontation between father and son.”
Prosecutors requested that the court summon Wu Wang-hsia (吳王霞), the mother of former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), to clarify whether Wu Shu-jen had used her mother's account to transfer money and to determine how much the former first couple knew about such money transfers. Tsai approved the request.
The two sides reached an agreement that the Longtan land deal would be tried before the “state affairs fund” and money-laundering cases. Chen Shui-bian and his lawyers asked the court to speed up the trial by scheduling more witnesses to appear on the same day.
“We just hope that we can hurry up and be done with the necessary proceedings. After all, [Chen Shui-bian] is still being detained,” Cheng later told reporters.
The first day of trial will be next Thursday, when the court will call Wu Shu-jen's friend Tsai Ming-chieh (蔡明杰) and Taiwan Cement Group (台泥) chairman Leslie Koo (辜成允) to testify.
Meanwhile, the SIP yesterday announced that the former first family's physician, Huang Fang-yen (黃芳彥), has been placed on the wanted list.
The SIP had said it would put Huang on the wanted list if he continued to ignore the summons for questioning.
Local cable TV stations have aired footage showing Huang living in California. Although Huang has told reporters he would return to Taiwan as soon as he has taken care of personal matters in the US, he has not answered the prosecution's summons.
Citing the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), SIP spokesperson Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) said that prosecutors may arrest a person if he ignores three summons. Prosecutors may also put the person on the wanted list if law enforcement personnel are unsure of his or her whereabouts.
“Huang is suspected of helping the former first lady hide diamonds, jewelry and NT$60 million [US$2 million],” Chen Yun-nan said.
Huang was listed as a defendant two weeks ago for allegedly violating the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) by helping the former first family hide and launder money.
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