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Prosecutor Chen mum on media ‘South Route’ buzz

The Supreme Prosecutor Office’s Special Investigation Panel (SIP) spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) yesterday declined to confirm media reports that said former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had told prosecutors that he made up a diplomatic mission code named the “South Route Project” (南線專案).

“Because of a gag order, I cannot confirm the content of any conversations between prosecutors and witnesses or defendants,” Chen Yun-nan said when asked for verification on the reports.

Chen Shui-bian’s wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) was charged with corruption and forgery in November 2006 for using receipts provided by others to claim reimbursements totaling NT$14.8 million from the president’s “state affairs” fund between July 2002 and March 2006.

Chen Shui-bian, who had immunity from prosecution while in office, was also named as a co-defendant in the case and came under investigation soon after he stepped down from the presidency on May 20.

Both the Apple Daily and TVBS yesterday reported that the former president, when asked for details during an interrogation with prosecutors last week about how the “state affairs” fund was spent, said that he made up the “South Route Project” because NT$6 million (US$190,000) was spent on other secret diplomatic work with Japan and the US that should never be exposed.

Chen Shui-bian was previously reported as saying that part of the presidential “state affairs” fund was used to pay secret agents or informants involved in the “South Route Project.”

TVBS cited Chen Yun-nan as the source of its report, but Chen Yun-nan yesterday denied that he had talked to selected media outlets about the contents of the sessions between the former president and prosecutors.

Chen Yun-nan said that Chen Shui-bian had submitted many documents on “secret diplomatic work,” but prosecutors were still investigating the documents and his statements.

Chen Yun-nan said that prosecutors might need the Presidential Office’s help in the near future to double check the former president’s statements concerning “secret diplomatic work.”
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