The Special Investigation Panel (SIP) of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office said yesterday it would appeal the release of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who was freed without bail on Saturday morning after being held for 32 days.
“We will appeal Chen’s case to the Taiwan High Court tomorrow [today],” SIP spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) told reporters yesterday.
State public Prosecutor-General Chen Tsung-ming (陳聰明) and the eight SIP prosecutors investigating the former president’s finances met yesterday morning to reach a decision on whether to appeal.
Chen Yun-nan had said on Saturday that the SIP respected the Taipei District Court’s decision to release the former president and would not appeal, but admitted on Sunday he had spoken without consulting the other prosecutors.
Chen Tsung-ming told reporters on Sunday it was normal for a defendant to be released by a district court after an investigation was complete and the case was to be brought to court.
However, in Chen Shui-bian’s case, prosecutors said they were still probing other allegations involving the former first family and the release of the former president could allow him to discuss the investigations with other individuals.
In their appeal of the release, prosecutors will argue that Chen Shui-bian could conspire with other individuals involved in the case, Chen Yun-nan said.
The high court can reject the request or order the district court to reconsider its decision.
Commenting on the prosecutors’ decision to appeal, DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said it was surprising that the SIP had changed its mind.
“The SIP should explain to the public whether or not politics were involved,” he said.
Chen Shui-bian, who was detained on Nov. 12, was indicted on charges of embezzling government funds, money laundering and forgery along with 13 others, including his wife, son and daughter-in-law.
As prosecutors are seeking the “severest penalty,” legal experts say the former president could face life in prison if convicted.
Chen Shui-bian has repeatedly denied all the charges against him, saying he is the victim of political persecution.
Prosecutors charged him and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), with illegally receiving or embezzling NT$490 million (US$14.7 million), some of which was sent overseas.
Of that total, the indictment says, NT$104.15 million was embezzled from the “state affairs” fund during the former president’s eight years in office.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
RSS