Ailing former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was released from prison on medical parole yesterday, after serving six years for a graft conviction relating to his presidency.
Chen, in a wheelchair and holding a cane, left the prison accompanied by his son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), for a month of medical treatment. He waved to a group of supporters waiting outside before boarding a car arranged by prison authorities to take him to his home in Greater Kaohsiung.
As his motorcade — led by police motorcycles — left the prison, some supporters shouted: “A-bian (陳水扁) is not guilty,” and “Go, A-bian,” using the former president’s nickname.
Photo: Reuters
The motorcade navigated throngs of supporters and reporters outside the prison for 10 minutes before breaking free and heading on its way.
Earlier yesterday, a 10-member review panel at the Ministry of Justice’s Agency of Corrections decided to grant the parole in the light of recommendations from a team of doctors who reported a rapid deterioration of Chen Shui-bian’s health since May last year, Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said.
“His health conditions are complicated and difficult to control. He could die at any time,” Chen Ming-tang said.
Photo: CNA
In a statement, the agency cited the medical team’s report, saying that the 64-year-old is experiencing loss of motor control.
“This type of degeneration occurs in different parts of the brain simultaneously,” it said.
It added that although Chen Shui-bian was being treated by a team of doctors from Taichung Veterans General Hospital, he has not shown any obvious improvement, except for with his sleep apnea.
After careful observation, the medical specialists reported that Chen Shui-bian’s prison environment did not help his health and would lead to worsening illness, the agency said.
The physicians concluded that confinement had seriously affected his health and recommended that he be sent home for care on medical parole, the agency said.
It stressed that the parole is a temporary release on medical grounds and that Chen Shui-bian is required to return to prison once his health stabilizes.
“The parole period will not count toward his prison term,” the agency added.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is also the convener of Chen Shui-bian’s healthcare working group, yesterday called the latter’s release “just the beginning,” given the substantial work ahead in designing a healthcare plan for the veteran politician.
“His going home is not as easy as it looks,” Ko said. “Thought has to be put into his environment and care.”
He gave as an example the need to protect Chen Shui-bian from accidental falls after he gets home.
Ko also expressed support for efforts to curtail the ministry’s power to rule on medical parole cases.
“Chen Shui-bian’s case has shown us that there are no clear rules on the conditions under which prisoners are to be released to receive medical care,” Ko said. “Allowing prison wardens or the Ministry of Justice to unilaterally decide is not ideal, in my opinion.”
Chen Shui-bian was transferred to a prison hospital in April last year after being diagnosed with severe depression, suspected Parkinson’s disease and other conditions.
He attempted to commit suicide in June last year, trying to hang himself with a towel in a prison hospital bathroom, officials said.
Chen Shui-bian’s supporters have recently stepped up their campaign for his early release.
His former deputy, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), 70, undertook a three-day hunger strike in a tent late last month to demand that he be freed.
The former Democratic Progressive Party leader ended 50 years of continuous Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule when he came to power in 2000.
After his second term ended in 2008, Chen Shui-bian was sentenced to life in prison in 2009 for money laundering and bribery — a term reduced to 20 years after appeals.
He began serving his sentence on Nov. 11, 2010, but had been detained for nearly two years by then, while prosecutors were investigating and prosecuting the cases.
Chen Shui-bian insists that the charges against him are part of a politically motivated vendetta by the current KMT government in retaliation for his eight years in power promoting Taiwan’s independence.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique