The Taiwan High Court yesterday ruled that the wife of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), would have to serve 17-and-a-half years in prison in connection with separate corruption and bribery cases.
The court also said the former first lady would to be fined a -total of NT$154 million (US$5.05 million).
Wu and the former president were each sentenced on Nov. 11 to a total of 19 years in jail on two bribery charges involving a land deal in Longtan (龍潭), Taoyuan County, and the appointment of a chairwoman of the company that operates the Taipei 101 skyscraper.
The rulings were final convictions in the first of several corruption cases implicating the former first family.
In addition to the two cases, several corruption cases against the couple are still pending in the Taiwan High Court.
By law, the High Court can determine whether the combined 19-year sentence should be served concurrently or consecutively. A panel at the court ruled yesterday that Wu’s total prison time should be 17-and-a-half years.
Judicial officials have said that the wheelchair-bound Wu would be sent to the Taichung Prison hospital to serve her sentence, but if Wu’s health was to deteriorate to such an extent that the prison hospital was unable to handle it, she would be sent back home. However, her time at home would not be included as her prison term.
Wu is expected to start serving her sentence soon.
The couple’s daughter, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), has said that Wu’s health was precarious and that it was a problem every day just to feed, clothe and help her to the bathroom.
As the quality of care Wu would receive in prison was not clear, her mother should not be sent to jail, Chen Hsing-yu has said, adding that if anything happened to Wu during her incarceration, she would take legal action against the government.
The former president began serving his 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence at a jail in Taoyuan County on Dec. 3, making history as Taiwan’s first former head of state to be jailed.
Chen Shui-bian, who was president from 2000 until 2008, maintains that he is innocent and that his incarceration is a political vendetta by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led government to punish him for his work on Taiwanese independence, as well as to please Beijing.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
Firefighters are working to put out a fire on Taipei’s Yangmingshan (陽明山) reported earlier this morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Taipei Fire Department said it received a report of a fire at Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) at 11:17am, dispatching four command vehicles, 16 firetrucks, one ambulance and 72 personnel. The fire is still burning on about 250m² of land, according to initial estimates, as eyewitnesses reported seeing smoke rising from the mountain. The Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters on Facebook said the Qixingshan (七星山) hiking trail starting from Xiaoyoukeng and the Xiaoyoukeng parking lot are closed as firefighters work to put
RSS