Former Taiwan President imprisoned
Written by Writer on Thursday, November 13th, 2008
Former Taiwan President imprisoned
Chen Shui-bian becomes Taiwan’s 1st former head of state to be detained
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2008-11-13 01:14 AM
Former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) entered prison yesterday after a court spent 11 hours discussing the prosecutors’ request to detain him on suspicions of misusing the state affairs fund and money laundering.
As he had predicted himself on several occasions, Chen became the first-ever former head of state in Taiwan to be jailed. Under the current law, he can be detained for a maximum of 40 days.
The Taipei District Court started evaluating the request from the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors Office Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., but Chen complained he felt unwell because a police officer had pushed his arm down to force him into a car before leaving the prosecutors’ offices earlier in the day.
The former president was taken to National Taiwan University Hospital for a checkup, and was diagnosed with a strained right arm muscle. Prosecutors denied his allegations of police violence.
The court’s panel of three judges ended the hearing of Chen’s case at 5:30 a.m. yesterday, but went into deliberation before announcing their decision in favor of Chen’s incarceration just after 7 a.m. Court spokesman Huang Chun-ming denied media reports that the judges were divided two against one on how to resolve the issue.
Chen entered the Taipei Detention Center in Tucheng, Taipei County, partly out of view from cameras, but reports said he was not wearing handcuffs. After undergoing a routine checkup, he chose a solitary cell, a prison spokesman said. Chen went without breakfast but slept instead.
On Tuesday, Chen raised his handcuffed arms to reporters as he left the prosecutors’ offices for court, but prosecutors explained yesterday they were just following rules and did not mean to humiliate the former president.
Chen’s attorney said he would not appeal the court decision as a protest against political persecution and retaliation. Chen felt everything was playing along to a scenario already written well in advance, so filing an appeal would not be of any use, the attorney said.
Prosecutors said Chen had to be detained to prevent him from tampering with evidence. In addition, the violations he was suspected of were all felonies punishable by prison sentences of more than five years, one of the preconditions to take someone into custody under Taiwanese law.
Chen is suspected of a variety of corruption charges, forgery, and money laundering.
Chen critics yesterday began questioning his privileges as a former head of state.
The National Security Council (國家安全會議) stopped its protection of Chen as he went into prison, but will station an agent at the prison to function as a contact person, Vice Justice Minister Huang Shih-ming said. Chen’s safety was now in the hands of the detention center, he added.
Ruling Kuomintang lawmakers started a discussion about whether Chen should continue to receive the NT$11,250,000 a year he receives as a former president. According to existing regulations, he would only lose the income if found guilty by the Supreme Court.
Security at Chen’s prison was tight yesterday to prevent clashes between Chen supporters and opponents setting off firecrackers to celebrate.
