The Supreme Court yesterday rejected an appeal by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to revoke a Taiwan High Court ruling last month that he remain in custody for another two months.
Chen filed the appeal after a three-judge panel from the High Court ruled on Dec. 17 that he be kept behind bars for another two months, on the grounds that he might abscond if released from detention.
After a review, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court ruling and turned down Chen’s appeal.
The high court ruling said Chen should be detained for another two months from Dec. 24 to Feb. 23. The next hearing on whether he should be detained for a longer period might be held before the Feb. 13 to Feb. 21 Lunar New Year holiday.
The judges said in their ruling that Chen has had the chance to come into contact with foreign governments and members of the private sector, making him “more familiar than ordinary people with ways to flee overseas.”
With Chen’s influence and the assets stashed overseas by his family, he could live a comfortable life if he were to run away to evade the severe sentence he could face, the judges said.
Both Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-jen, were sentenced on Sept. 11 by the Taipei District Court to life in prison, in addition to receiving fines of NT$200 million (US$6.13 million) and NT$300 million, respectively, on several counts of corruption, including embezzling from a presidential fund for state affairs, taking bribes from local businessmen and money laundering.
Chen was first detained on Nov. 12, 2008, and was released on Dec. 13, 2008, following his indictment.
He was detained again on Dec. 30, 2008, after the Taipei District Court approved a request by prosecutors to take him back into custody and he has not been released since.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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