Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will declare his dismissal of his lawyers in court tomorrow, his lawyer said yesterday.
Chen is scheduled to appear at the Taipei District Court tomorrow morning, where he will hear the former director of his office, Lin Teh-hsun (林德訓), answer questions regarding his use of the presidential “state affairs fund.”
Chen will inform Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) of his dismissal of all three of his attorneys, said Shih Yi-ling (石宜琳), one of the lawyers.
Shih visited the former president at the Taipei Detention Center yesterday morning.
“We have achieved our goal of assisting the former president at the first trial,” he said. “If necessary, we will also assist the former president in future cases still under investigation by the Special Investigation Panel.”
After attending a detention hearing on May 7, Chen was returned to the Taipei Detention Center. He issued a statement through his office announcing the immediate dismissal of his defense team. He also said he would call no more witnesses and would not appeal if convicted.
But if Chen announces the dismissal in court, the judge will arrange for a court-appointed public defender to take up the case.
Until a few days ago, Chen was on a hunger strike to protest what he says is political persecution by the government, and to show support for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) demonstrations on Sunday and Monday.
Meanwhile, in court testimony yesterday, former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) yesterday expressed sympathy for Chen Shui-bian’s bookkeeper, Chen Chen-hui (陳鎮慧).
Ma and Chen Chen-hui are both defendants in the trial involving the former first family, but Ma appeared at the Taipei District Court yesterday as a defense witness. Chen Chen-hui’s lawyer had asked to question him on his role in overseeing the fund.
Ma’s testimony was in stark contrast to previous court appearances where he denied any wrongdoing and sought to blame Chen Chen-hui, saying that as the fund’s accountant, she should shoulder responsibility for any mistakes or abuses.
Yesterday Ma told the court: “Chen Chen-hui and I are both victims in this case.”
Ma said reimbursement slips for the fund were given to him by Chen Chen-hui to be signed, but he did not think he had the authority to judge the president’s expenses.
He said Chen Chen-hui would make marks with a pencil indicating where he should sign and he followed her instructions because he trusted and respected her as a close assistant to the first family and because he did not want to make trouble for her by declining to sign.
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