Accusing Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) of distorting former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) words to extend his detention for two months, Chen’s office said yesterday it would file cases against Tsai with the Control Yuan and Taipei District Court.
Tsai quoted Chen’s conversations with his staff and visitors out of context and used the conversations against Chen, his office said in the statement, adding that it would collect evidence of the court’s “abuse of power” and file against Tsai with the Control Yuan and Taipei District Court.
In defending its decision to extend Chen’s detention for the third time, the court on Monday cited several reasons used in previous rulings — the concern that Chen would collude with witnesses, destroy evidence or try to abscond. 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.
In response to the court’s concerns about Chen asking lawyers to defend his case on call-in shows on TV, Chen’s office issued a statement yesterday saying that the former president believed he would not be treated justly in Tsai’s court, and felt that it would be necessary to clarify the truth in the “people’s court” instead.
“Chen encouraged lawyers who understand the case to explain the truth behind the case to the public and seek justice in the people’s court,” the statement said.
Chiang Chih-ming (江志銘), Chen Shui-bian’s secretary, said Tsai manipulated Chen’s remarks and distorted his words to extend the detention period.
“Former president Chen cannot agree with the court’s accusation that he has interfered with the case or prepared to flee the country by applying for a new passport,” Chiang said yesterday.
The former president’s court-appointed attorney Tseng Te-rong (曾德榮) yesterday said he would submit a request to have the former president sent to hospital as well as appeal Monday’s detention ruling.
Tseng expressed regret at the Taipei District Court’s decision to detain the former president for another two months.
He said he disagreed with Tsai’s reasoning that the former president was meddling with the judiciary by instructing his former lawyers and subordinates to talk to the public through the press or television talk shows.
“An individual should be responsible for his or her own speech. [The court] should not make the former president responsible [for what lawyers said to the public] by saying it was a result of his instructions,” Tseng said.
He said he would discuss the matter with Chen and appeal the detention ruling in a few days.
Shih Yi-ling (石宜琳), who served as one of Chen’s attorneys before the former president dismissed them all to protest the judicial system, also said the court’s ruling was unacceptable.
He said that he chose to speak on talk shows himself and the former president did not have to take responsibility.
“Just because a lawyer was interviewed by the media does not mean this can be one of the reasons for detention,” he said.
Chen has been diagnosed with tendonitis by detention center physicians. Tseng also said he would ask the district court to have Chen’s foot checked by a doctor.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS