Rehab center releases HK singer

The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office yesterday decided to release Hong Kong entertainer William So (蘇永康) from a drug rehabilitation program at the Taipei Drug Abstention and Treatment Center (台北煙毒勒戒所) in Tucheng, Taipei County.

A team of psychologists, social workers and medical doctors carried out So's first evaluation yesterday morning to decide whether he could be released early. The team submitted the result of the evaluation to the prosecutors' office around noon.

Chief Prosecutor Weng Hung-tsai (翁宏在) decided to release So in the afternoon since the evaluation team decided that So was not an addict during the 10-day observation period.

So left the center around 3:30pm but refused to comment.

His agent said that a press conference would be held this afternoon.

Weng said that he decided to free So because he believed in the team's professional evaluation.

"We treated So as a normal drug user and we did everything by book," Weng said.

"Usually, we will release the drug user if the evaluation report says that the user has successfully quit and doesn't intend to take drugs again."

So was arrested at Taipei's Texound night club along with an entourage of 11 friends and colleagues on June 8.

The police discovered four and half Ecstasy pills at the scene but nobody admitted to possession of the pills. So tested positive for the drug after a urine test at the police station.

On Aug. 2, So attended an investigative hearing at the Taipei Prosecutors' Office and was sent to the Taipei Drug Abstention and Treatment Center. According to Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), the spokesman of the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, So asked the prosecutor if he could take part in the rehabilitation program and said that he hoped that he could attend the program as soon as possible. However, So never admitted to taking Ecstasy pills.

On Saturday, under an arrangement by the Taipei Drug Abstention and Treatment Center, So participated in a karaoke contest when Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) visited the center.

Standing by the vice president, So urged all the drug users to keep the faith by quitting and encouraged young people to say no to drugs which, the vice president called, "a very brave thing to do."