Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday suggested that former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) run for Taipei County commissioner and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) run for Taoyuan County commissioner.
Liu Tao (劉導), a top aide at Chen’s office, relayed the former president’s wish to see Su and Tsai run in the year-end elections after visiting Chen at the Taipei Detention Center in Tucheng (土城), Taipei County, yesterday morning. Chen received his first visitors yesterday following the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday.
Meanwhile, Chuang Po-lin (莊柏林), a legal adviser to Chen who also visited the former president yesterday, told reporters that he had personally been against the plan by Chen’s son and daughter-in-law to plead guilty. A guilty plea would create the impression that they had acted wrongly and could affect his client’s case. Chuang, however, said that Chen did not seem to mind.
Chen’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), and his daughter-in-law, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), told a judge during a pre-trial hearing at the Taipei District Court last month that they might have been involved in money laundering. The court said a judge had to accept a statement before it could constitute a formal plea.
Chen Chih-chung and Huang were indicted for money laundering in connection with the transfer of the former president’s money overseas.
Chen Shui-bian and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), were indicted in December on charges of embezzling NT$104 million (US$3 million) from the president’s “state affairs” fund. They are also accused of accepting NT$100 million in bribes and US$6 million in connection with a land procurement deal, as well as US$2.73 million in kickbacks to help a contractor win a tender for a government construction project.
Chen Shui-bian has denied the charges.
In related news, former first lady Wu Shu-jen’s (吳淑珍) lawyer, Lee Sheng-hsiung (李勝雄), yesterday said he had terminated his contract with Wu.
Lee said only that he had ended the contract because he did not want to get involved in Chen’s family disputes. Lee said Wu understood his decision to terminate the contract.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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