Wed, Oct 22, 2003 page3

• Chu persecuted by his enemies, family charges

  • By Jimmy Chuang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Chu Ting-shan (朱挺珊), daughter of fugitive Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄), says that the former Kaohsiung City Council speaker is resisting persecution and not -- despite what authorities say -- running away from justice.

  "My father is man enough to face his various responsibilities. He would never leave like a coward," she said during a press conference yesterday morning.

  "In fact, my father's case is a perfect example of politics interfering with justice. He is simply fighting against it," she said.

  Chu Ting-shan and her mother, Wu Te-mei (吳德美), called the press conference to accuse Kaohsiung prosecutors and judges of being used by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians.

  Wu said that she would encourage her husband to apply for political asylum if he is in a foreign country now.

  "The DPP did this to my husband because DPP politicians want to steal local political affection which belongs to my husband," Wu said. "I believe they want our money, too."

  Wu did not, however, provide any evidence to back up her claims.

  Chu An-hsiung was tried and convicted on charges that he bought votes for NT$500 each during last year's Kaohsiung City Council election.

  Chu Ting-shan accused prosecutors of using underhanded methods to get her father convicted.

  She says that prosecutors detained a witness -- identified only by his surname, Yang -- for 26 days until he agreed to give what she was false testimony against the former councilor in exchange for his own freedom.

  Chu Ting-shan also complained that the judges should not have convicted her father on the basis of testimony given by secret witnesses.

  She did not, however, provide any evidence to substantiate her accusations against prosecutors and judges.

  Chu Ting-shan is currently acting as the spokeswoman for the An Feng Group, the corporate conglomerate of which her father is the president.

  Although a graduate student at Boston University's Law School, she decided to come back home on Jan. 5 -- after she finished her graduate thesis -- when both her father and mother were detained for their involvement in another bribery case.

  In that second case, Chu An-hsiung was accused of buying votes from city councilors -- for NT$5 million each -- to secure the speakership of the Kaohsiung City Council.

  After being convicted of buying votes in the city council elections, Chu An-hsiung was sentenced to 22 months in jail. He was supposed to begin serving that sentence last Wednesday.

  When he failed to appear, prosecutors gave him another 19-hour grace period before they issued an arrest warrant for him, giving him a new deadline of 3pm on Monday.

  When Chu An-hsiung still failed to appear, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office finally declared him a wanted man.

  His family has been uncooperative. First they said that he would show up to begin his jail sentence, then said later that they didn't know where he was.
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