The Taipei District Court yesterday appointed another attorney to help with former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) case and alleviate the workload of Chen’s first court-appointed attorney, Tseng Te-rong (曾德榮).
It was the first time the Taipei District Court had appointed two public defenders to represent a defendant.
The court said yesterday that because the case is complicated and involved the presidential “state affairs fund,” a land deal, money laundering and a second indictment by prosecutors, the workload was too heavy for Tseng to handle alone.
After some discussion, the court arranged for a second attorney, Tang Chen-chi (唐禎祺), to represent Chen.
The 40-year-old Tang has 14 years of experience as a public defender at the Taipei District Court and has considerable experience handling corruption cases.
Meanwhile, former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) yesterday visited her husband at the Taipei Detention Center and encouraged him to meet Tang.
The Taipei District Court last week appointed Tseng to represent the former president after Chen told Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) he would dismiss all three of his lawyers and not call his remaining witnesses.
Tseng tried to visit the former president last week, but Chen refused to see him, sending a note informing him that he was taking this action in protest against “an unfair judicial system.”
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), who accompanied Wu during her visit, told reporters that Wu encouraged Chen to meet his lawyer to avoid dragging out the trial.
“[Chen] said that if [Tseng] were really that good, then he should get him out of detention first,” Gao said.
Chen has been held at the Taipei Detention Center since Dec. 30 on charges including money laundering, embezzlement and corruption.
He was indicted on Dec. 12 and charged with illegally receiving or embezzling NT$490 million (US$15 million).
He has repeatedly denied the charges and has denounced his trial as political persecution.
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