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Prosecutors delay Yen's stay in jail

"Doctors told us that Yen is suffering from heart-related problems and recommended a one-week hospital stay. We accept Yen's request to delay the beginning of his sentence for health reasons." — Hung Pei-ken, Taichung District Prosecutors’ office spokesman

Taichung prosecutors yesterday granted independent Legislator Yen Ching-piao's (顏清標) request to delay the beginning of his three-and-a-half year jail sentence after he was hospitalized and diagnosed with heart failure.

Yen checked into the emergency ward of Taipei Veterans General Hospital early yesterday morning complaining of chest pain and was found to have suffered from acute myocardial failure, the hospital said at a news conference later in the morning.

Doctors said that Yen, who has a history of heart disease and has a stent fitted in one of his arteries, suffers from ventricular dilation (an enlargement of the heart’s lower chambers) in the left side of his heart and blockage of his right coronary artery.

The hospital is monitoring Yen in intensive care, doctors said, but his condition is not life-threatening and he could be discharged within a week.

It was the second time Yen had been admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit in the past week. He was diagnosed with myocardial ischemia on July 17 when doctors suggested that Yan have an angiogram, but he declined and asked only for medication.

“Doctors told us that Yen is suffering from heart-related problems and recommended a one-week hospital stay. We accept Yen’s request to delay the beginning of his sentence for health reasons,” said Hung Pei-ken (洪培根), spokesman for the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office.

Hung did not mention a new deadline for Yen, but said that prosecutors had been receiving updates on his condition. They were also considering transferring Yen to a hospital in Taichung where it would be easier to guard him.

Hung said that Yen had been supposed to report to the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office at 10:30am yesterday to begin his sentence. On Tuesday night, Yen and his staff held a “farewell” dinner at a restaurant in Tianmu. Yen was rushed to Taipei Veterans General Hospital immediately after the dinner.

The Supreme Court last month rejected Yen’s appeal to overturn his conviction for illegal possession of firearms.

The weapons charges stem from an incident in 1996 that occurred shortly after Yen received a threatening telephone call. His bodyguards fired at a car he believed to be following him, riddling the car with more than 40 bullets.
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