Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday maintained his innocence during the first of three pre-trial hearings on charges of corruption and money laundering.
“I am totally innocent and there is absolutely no way I would accept such charges and insults,” Chen said.
The three-day pre-trial session at the Taipei District Court set the stage for the trial, which is expected to last for months.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The district court will summon other defendants, including Chen’s son and daughter-in-law, for pre-trial hearings today and tomorrow.
ADDITIONAL CHARGES
During the hearing, prosecutors charged Chen, who stands accused of four counts of corruption and money laundering, with additional charges of “extorting property and demanding donations using influence” and “profiteering” in a land procurement deal in Lungtan, Taoyuan County, in 2004.
The prosecutors said Chen used his influence as president to push the government to buy the land for a science park after his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), accepted bribes from the landowner.
Chen and Wu were indicted last month for accepting an estimated NT$300 million (US$8.9 million) in bribes in connection with the deal.
Chen said yesterday the addition of two charges reflected the fact that he was not guilty.
“Why did they need to add these two charges? It is because they know that the initial charges were too weak to convict me,” Chen said. “For the Lungtan case, I was actually trying to help boost the nation’s economy. How can that be called corruption?”
“No [other defendants] have ever named me as bribe recipient and I don’t know why I was charged with taking bribes,” he told the court.
The session, heard by Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) and judges Hsu Chien-hui (徐千惠) and Wu Ding-ya (吳定亞), began at 9:30am.
DEFENSE TEAM
Chen’s defense team — Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), Hung Kuei-san and Shih Yi-ling (石宜琳) — yesterday said they had not been given sufficient time to prepare Chen’s defense.
Tsai later postponed the remaining part of yesterday’s hearing and a hearing scheduled for tomorrow to Feb. 24.
Chen, 58, was president from 2000 until May 2008. He has said he is a victim of political persecution by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Also charged in the same case are three of Chen’s former aides and eight other associates and relatives.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS