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Chen seeks to summon 34 witnesses, including Lee

Police stand guard outside the Taipei District Court yesterday as former president Chen Shui-bian arrives at the court for a pre-trial hearing. PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his lawyers yesterday requested that the Taipei District Court summon 34 witnesses during his trial, including former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), former Chinese Nationalist Party chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Special Investigation Panel (SIP) prosecutor Yueh Fang-ju (越方如).

Yesterday’s pre-trial hearing was scheduled to review evidence and supplementary arguments.

Chen’s lawyers spent most of the morning saying that written depositions by former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), former director of Chen’s office, Lin Teh-hsun (林德訓), Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) and former director-general of the Presidential Office’s accounting department Fon Shui-lin (馮瑞麟) were inadmissible because, among other reasons, they did not directly prove Chen was guilty of the crimes listed in the indictment.

Asked by Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) for comments on the prosecutors’ supplementary arguments, Chen launched into hours-long answers in his defense.

“The rules say I have to eat bread, only bread, every single day. Is this humane?” — Chen Shui-bian, former president

Chen said that testimony given by Su Chih-cheng (蘇志誠), a top aide to former president Lee Teng-hui, showed he did not know that the presidential state affairs fund required opening a separate account.

“The president is not a bookkeeper. How would I know how many Sogo gift certificate receipts there are?” Chen said.

He also requested that the court summon witnesses to clarify former presidents’ use of their presidential state affairs fund.

“If President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] was found not guilty [of misusing his special allowance during his time as Taipei mayor], then this case shouldn’t encounter any problems,” he said.

To probe Chen’s alleged involvement in embezzlement related to the presidential state affairs fund, Chen’s lawyers requested the court summon Lee and Lien as witnesses.

Chen’s lawyers requested that the court summon Yueh as a witness to investigate whether prosecutors struck a deal with former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) to persuade him to return to Taiwan and testify against the former first family.

Chen’s lawyer, Shih Yi-ling (石宜琳), requested prosecutor Yueh testify on who arranged her trip to Japan last November, and what prosecutors offered Koo to persuade him to return to Taiwan.

At the start of the hearing, Shih requested that the judges allow Chen’s family to bring him food when he is in court because the district court only provides two pieces of bread to defendants at lunchtime.

Tsai rejected the request, saying: “The court believes that the defendant does not wish to be treated differently from all other defendants.”

Chen replied that his hearing schedule often called for whole-day hearings that are held consecutively, so he often could not make it back to the detention center by dinnertime.

“The rules say I have to eat bread, only bread, every single day. Is this humane?” he asked.

At a separate setting, Taipei District Court spokesperson Huang Chun-ming (黃俊明) said that from now on, the court would provide lunchboxes and dinner for all detained defendants if they have whole-day hearings scheduled.
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