The Taipei District Court ruled yesterday to extend former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) incarceration at the Taipei Detention Center for two more months.
“The court ruled to extend [Chen’s] detention by two months starting from July 26,” Taipei District Court spokesperson Huang Chun-ming (黃俊明) said.
The court cited several of the reasons used in its previous detention rulings — the concern that Chen would collude with witnesses, destroy evidence or try to abscond, and because he has been charged with serious crimes that could bring him a prison term of seven years or more.
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
However, it also cited Chen’s “interference” with the case by talking to the public through friends and colleagues who visited him at the detention center.
The ruling said that even behind bars, Chen is capable of exerting pressure on the judiciary, so it was difficult to imagine how much damage he could do to the judiciary if he were not detained.
The court believed there were no other means, such as bail or placing restrictions on residence, to substitute for detention, Huang said.
Chen has been held at the detention center since Dec. 30. This is the third time Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) has ruled to extend his detention.
Chen has declined to speak in his defense or answer questions since May 7 to protest what he calls an unfair judicial system, except to speak briefly at his detention hearing last Friday.
In response to Chen supporters saying they would “shut the court down” if his detention was extended, Huang said the court respects the protesters’ right to freedom of speech, and it would arrange security for its officials if necessary.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正) criticized the ruling, saying the court’s action was “excessive” and the reasons for the detention had ceased to exist.
Lin said the court cited new reasons for detaining Chen because “they know the original reasons have become too flimsy.”
He urged the judges and prosecutors to find other means of preventing Chen from absconding because detention should be used as a last resort.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the court ruling was unacceptable. The party believed there was no need to keep Chen in custody, and the latest extension went against the consensus of legal professionals, he said.
Cheng said the court had heard all witnesses in the case, so Chen would have no need to conspire with them. The DPP also believed that as a former president guarded by security agents around the clock, Chen would have no chance of fleeing if released, he said.
He criticized President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for signing the UN’s International Convention on Civil and Political Rights into law earlier this year, but then ignoring reform of the legal system.
In related news, Chen was recently diagnosed with tendonitis in his right foot. The detention center said doctors put a cast on his foot on Saturday.
The doctors said the tendonitis was caused by an abnormal bone growth, and that Chen had also been prescribed medication for the condition.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
RSS