Dozens of investigators raided former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office yesterday morning after allegations surfaced that he had illegally removed boxes of classified government documents from the Presidential Office when he left office two years ago.
The search by the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigation Panel (SIP) resulted in the removal of almost 60 boxes of files from the ex-president’s former office on Guanqian Road in Taipei and his new office on Linyi Street, office director Chen Sung-shan (陳淞山) said.
Chen Sung-shan told the Taipei Times that the former president had yet to learn about the search, which he called political manipulation efforts aimed at diverting public attention away from a string of scandals surrounding the Taipei International Flora Expo and undermining the Democratic Progressive Party ahead of the year-end municipal elections.
‘AMBUSH’
“It was an ambush. We had no time to prepare or answer their questions. Since when did prosecutors suddenly become so efficient?” he asked. “We couldn’t even get a lawyer on the scene in time.”
According to office aides, Chen Sung-shan was brought in for questioning on Tuesday as a witness over the contents of the boxes, after which a search warrant was issued by the SIP.
Attention was first drawn to the issue in June after the former president’s staff wrote to the Presidential Office asking how they should handle 20 boxes of official documents they had found.
The Presidential Office asked in writing for the return of the documents, but on Aug. 10 and again on Aug. 31, Chen Shui-bian’s aides said they would have to consult with the former president — something that was expected to take place later this week — to ask for his approval before the documents could be retuned.
“We decided to search the office because of a pressing need to preserve evidence,” said Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), a spokesman for the prosecutors.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Last week, the Presidential Office took legal action to reclaim the documents, saying Chen Shui-bian would have breached security protocols and endangered national security if the boxes contained classified information.
The Presidential Office and the SIP filed a lawsuit against Chen’s office on charges that the former president may have broken the Criminal Code.
If found guilty, the former president could face another jail term of up to seven years, on top of his 20-year-sentence from the Taiwan High Court over corruption charges.
The legal problems could come as a further blow to Chen Shui-bian, who saw his former presidential courtesy treatment, including a monthly allowance and other annual subsidies, revoked by the legislature last month.
His son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), who is running for the post of Kaohsiung City councilor as an independent, has said the amended law could spell financial trouble for the former first family and that the operations of his father’s office could be cut back or shut down altogether.
Chen Shui-bian and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), were convicted last year of embezzling state funds, forgery and laundering money through Swiss bank accounts. The verdict has been appealed to the Taiwan Supreme Court.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling, AFP and CNA
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