Three US forensic scientists yesterday said that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) stomach wound was caused by a gunshot.
"All three of us agree that the president sustained a gunshot wound," Cyril Wecht, a respected forensic scientist, told reporters.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Flanked by trajectory analyst Michael Haag and crime-scene-identification analyst Timothy Palmbach, Wecht said that the trio had visited Chen at the Presidential Office yesterday morning and carried out a careful examination of the president's wound.
"We are forensic scientists and we make sure what and how the suspect caused the damage or injury," Wecht said. "But we are not here to decide who committed the crime. In addition, we are not law enforcement officers in Taiwan. We are independent forensic scientists and we are here to assist local law enforcement officers with their investigations."
Chen and his vice president were wounded by what police suspect to be two bullets fired during a street rally in Tainan the day before the presidential election.
Palmbach endorsed a preliminary investigation by the National Police Administration's Criminal Investigation Bureau, which said that it would be difficult to identify the pistol that fired the shots because of the poor quality of the homemade bullets.
Since arriving in Taiwan on Monday, the scientists have been accompanied by cable channel ETTV executive director Joanna Lei (雷倩), whose company organized a press conference for the visiting experts yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party politicians, however, have questioned Lei's role in the investigation because of her political background.
Lei unsuccessfully ran in the 2001 legislative election for the New Party.
"I did not join in any discussion about the case while they were talking to officers or prosecutors," Lei said. "I simply helped them translate when necessary."
Wecht told reporters: "You guys have been working hard with us wherever we were so there are no secrets about who we met or what we did during our stay here in Taiwan."
Wecht, who has disputed the official Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, said that it would take two weeks for the scientists to complete their work and that they would hand the results to Dr. Henry (李昌鈺) before he comes to Taipei sometime around April 13.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
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