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.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS