To coincide with Mother’s Day on Sunday, former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) mother yesterday launched an appeal calling for justice for her son.
Sunday will mark Chen’s 529th day in custody following accusations of and later convictions on corruption, money laundering and graft charges, while calls for his release by groups loyal to the former president and by pro-independence organizations have been growing.
Protesters unhappy with last month’s ruling by the Taiwan High Court prolonging Chen’s detention for at least another two months will launch a protest in Taipei tomorrow.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
A number of DPP legislators are expected to take part in the protest, which organizers say could attract several hundred people, as well as members of Chen’s family, including his mother Chen Lee Shen (陳李慎), his son and two sisters.
The rally will begin on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office and then make its way to the legislature, where organizers plan a sit-in.
In a rare media interview yesterday, an emotional 82-year-old Chen Lee Shen said: “[I will] only be happy when [Chen Shui-bian] is able to say ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ to me in person.”
Several pro-independence organizations have criticized the continued detention of the former president, alleging judicial misconduct after his family last month tried to wire back an estimated NT$700 million (US$21 million) from their Swiss bank accounts in response to prosecution requests.
“Where is the justice? The entire justice system remains biased,” said Huang Shu-chun (黃淑純) of the Northern Taiwan Society.
Despite efforts to return the money, presiding judge Teng Chen-chiu (鄧振球) said last month that he believed the former president continued to be a flight risk, comments that have been staunchly denied by Chen Shui-bian’s lawyers.
Also voicing support for the ex-president’s release was the sister of Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), a Carnegie Mellon professor critical of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, who died under suspicious circumstances during a visit to Taiwan in 1981.
“Chen Wen-chen disappeared 29 years ago after being taken by the Taiwan Garrison Command — Chen Lee Shen also lost her son one night,” Chen Pao-yue (陳寶月) said.
“Taiwanese mothers need to stand together,” to prevent such things happening again, she said.
The former president was first detained on Nov. 12, 2008, and 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 remained in detention ever since.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS