The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan yesterday lambasted President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration for its treatment of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), while calling for medical parole for Chen.
In a press conference yesterday, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan General Assembly moderator Pusin Tali (布興大立) said that Chen, serving an 18-and-a-half-year prison term on corruption charges, has been imprisoned for 1,000-odd days at Taipei Prison, where he shares a 1.3 ping (4.29m2) cell with another inmate and is under 24-hour surveillance.
Treating any criminal like this is maniacal, no matter whether regarding it in terms of human rights or from the perspective of the judiciary, he said.
“The government is treating A-bian [Chen’s nickname] like a prisoner of war,” Tali said, adding that the Ma administration was not respecting Chen’s human rights.
Tali also questioned the sudden change of judges presiding over Chen’s case, saying that it did not correspond to judicial propriety. He also alleged that the move was politically motivated.
Tali was referring to an event in 2009, when the Taipei District Court made a decision to “combine cases” and turned over the Second Financial Reform case in which Chen was implicated — then presided over by Taipei District Court Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) — to Judge Tsai Shou-shun (蔡守訓), who presided over the special secretaries case against the former president.
Tsai revoked Chou’s previous decision to release Chen without bail.
Reverend Lyim Hong-tiong (林芳仲) added that even former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) had not treated his enemies in such a harsh manner. He referred to the late general Chang Hsue-liang (張學良), saying that Chiang had only limited Chang’s movements to his house in Taichung and had not imprisoned him.
Lin said that the Ma administration should entertain the option of detaining Chen at his house, instead of in a prison.
“We do not wish to see Ma become more authoritarian and hope that he will listen to public opinion,” Lin said.
He added that if Ma respected life, he should allow Chen Shui-bian to be released on medical parole.
Meanwhile, the former president yesterday took leave of absence from the High Court hearing of his state affairs fund case, with his lawyer citing that A-bian was unable to narrate events in his own words.
To demonstrate that Chen Shui-bian’s stuttering would affect his ability to coherently defend himself, his lawyer imitated how A-bian had spoken to him about the court hearing.
The lawyer asked the court to cease hearing the case on the grounds that his client should not be over-stimulated, citing Article 294 of the Criminal Procedural Act (刑事訴訟法), which states that if a defendant is unable to be present at court because of illness, the court should suspend hearing the matter until the defendant can appear in court.
In response, the collegiate bench presiding over the case said that the opinions of medical experts should be taken into consideration in deciding whether to halt the hearings or not. It added that it has already sent a letter to the Taipei Veterans General Hospital asking Chens doctor to report on his health.
The doctor’s response would form the prime basis for a decision on whether to halt all hearings of the case, the court said, adding that it is willing to cancel a hearing scheduled for March 19.
Additional reporting by Yang Kuo-wen
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty