The Taipei District Court yesterday announced it would continue to detain former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is currently hospitalized with several illnesses.
Taipei District Court spokesperson Huang Chun-ming (黃俊明) announced the decision late yesterday afternoon.
“The court has ruled to continue [Chen’s] detention because the reasons for his original detention still exist. The defendant’s [Chen] detention will be extended by two months, starting from May 26,” Huang said.
The reasons for Chen’s detention, as cited by the court, include the fear that Chen would collude with witnesses or try to abscond, and because Chen has been charged with serious crimes for which he could be sentenced to five years or more in prison if convicted.
After evaluating medical reports from the Banciao branch of Taipei County Hospital, where Chen is being treated, the district court said today’s hearing has been canceled.
Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) had scheduled today’s court date to summon Su Chih-cheng (蘇志誠), a top aide to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), and former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) in the trial over Chen’s alleged embezzlement of the presidential “state affairs” fund.
The district court did not announce a new date.
The former president has been on hunger strike since Thursday after he returned to the Taipei Detention Center following his detention hearing. He appeared physically weak in court and later that day issued a statement saying he would not appeal any verdict in the case and would immediately dismiss his attorneys and stop calling witnesses.
Had he appeared in court today, Chen would have declared his decision to dismiss his lawyers directly to the judge, his lawyers said.
“He decided to dismiss his lawyers because he is very disappointed in the judicial system and he want to protest against the system,” said Shih Yi-ling (石宜琳), one of Chen’s attorneys.
“We will still urge him to be brave and face [the trial], because this is only the first trial and there are still second and third [trials] to come,” he said.
If Chen does dismiss his lawyers, the district court will arrange for a court-appointed attorney to represent him.
Chen has said he would not eat or drink until Sunday to show his support for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) rally scheduled for that day to protest the government’s China-leaning policies.
He has been on two hunger strikes since his incarceration, but ended them after his wife and family pleaded with him to start eating.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said she was “bored” by the former president’s hunger strikes.
“[He] has launched similar campaigns again and again. We all feel bored now. [This proves that] you cannot teach an old dog new tricks,” Lo said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but