Taichung Prison yesterday warned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is on medical parole, against accepting an invitation to attend president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration state banquet on Friday.
“The upcoming state banquet is not being held at a medical facility, nor is it a medical event in nature. The activities Chen participates in must be related to his medical needs, or he might violate the provisions of his medical parole,” prison warden Huang Wei-hsien (黃維賢) said.
Huang said Chen would risk having his medical parole revoked should he violate the rules, but added that the decision on whether to cancel the former president’s parole lies with the Ministry of Justice.
Huang made the remarks hours after Chen’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), posted on Facebook a picture showing an invitation addressed to his parents along with two VIP passes for Tsai’s state dinner, which is to be held at the Taipei Marriott Hotel on Friday evening.
Chen Chih-chung said whether his parents would attend the state banquet hinges on a professional evaluation of his father’s health, adding that the invitation was issued by the incoming Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government out of respect for former presidents.
Chen Shui-bian, who was in office from 2000 to 2008, has served more than six years of a 20-year prison term for several convictions on corruption charges.
Medical parole granted to the former president has been extended six times since he was first granted compassionate release from the prison’s Pei Teh Hospital in January last year. The former president’s health is re-evaluated every three months, with his seventh parole term set to expire on Aug. 4.
Although it remains uncertain whether Chen Shui-bian will make an appearance at the banquet, the matter galvanized a heated debate yesterday.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) criticized the DPP’s issuance of an invitation to Chen Shui-bian, saying that inviting a corrupt politician to a state banquet when he is still in the midst of his prison sentence would set a ridiculous precedent.
However, DPP Legislator Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said the banquet should be regarded as an opportunity for Chen Shui-bian to “go out and relax.”
“Is walking on the streets medically related? It should be OK for the former president to go out and relax,” Koo said.
New Power Party caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said news of the invitation was “heartwarming,” but that it would be up to Chen’s family to decide whether to attend.
Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) said while the purpose of medical parole is for the inmate to receive medical treatment, she would not oppose Chen Shui-bian’s attendance at the state banquet should he obtain prior approval from the concerned government agencies.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
RSS