Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) vowed yesterday that he would not flee the country as he fights attempts by the Supreme Prosecutor Office’s Special Investigation Panel (SIP) to return him to custody amid corruption charges.
The Taiwan High Court announced at 7pm yesterday that it was granting the appeal, which means the Taipei District Court will re-hear the case to decide whether Chen should be detained.
“I will not run away because I deeply love this land and the people here. Otherwise, I would not have asked my daughter-in-law to return from the United States to give birth to her baby two years ago,” Chen told reporters.
PHOTO: MAURICE TSAI, BLOOMBERG NEWS
“Nor would I have asked my son to return in August from the United States for the investigation,” he said.
“I shall appear in court to defend my innocence,” he said.
Chen made the remarks at the Taiwan High Court, where he attend a hearing yesterday afternoon in a case involving him and Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏).
Chen Shui-bian was indicted last Friday on charges of embezzling government funds, taking bribes and money laundering. He was released without bail last Friday after being detained for 32 days as prosecutors prepared four cases against him. The SIP filed an appeal on Tuesday against the Taipei District Court’s decision to release him, contending he might abscond through “secret channels.”
In its appeal, the SIP said it was incorrect of the judge to claim that the former president’s activities would be monitored by the bodyguards assigned to protect him, because he could always instruct them not to follow him. The SIP cited cases from Ukraine, Peru and Thailand in which corrupt heads of state fled their countries to go into hiding abroad.
Chen Shui-bian’s lawyer has said the appeal was politically motivated — an accusation rejected by Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰).
Meanwhile, the Presidential Office denied President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had in February discussed the possibility of pardoning his predecessor if Chen was found guilty in the corruption cases, an allegation made by the Chinese-language Next Magazine.
Tsai Chung-li (蔡仲禮), director of the Presidential Office’s public affairs department, said it would have been impossible for Ma to discuss the issue in February because he was only a presidential candidate then
“The allegations are groundless, untrue and unbelievable,” Tsai said.
A Next story claims Ma met aides, including former Taipei deputy mayor King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), in February to discuss whether Chen should be granted a pardon if he was found guilty and that the meeting concluded that a decision should not be made unless Chen were convicted.
Tsai said the Presidential Office had not discussed a pardon.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
Also See: DPP criticizes amendment
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)