The Taipei District Court said yesterday it had received former president Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) lawsuit, but the three judges accused of abuse of power would not make any comment to avoid influencing the case.
“We respect the former president's right to litigation,” district court spokesperson Huang Chun-ming (黃俊明) said, adding that the court would begin to process the case by first using a computerized random selection process to select the judges who would preside over it.
Huang said the three judges presiding over Chen's corruption trial — Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓), Hsu Chien-hui (徐千惠) and Wu Ding-ya (吳定亞) — would not be permitted to comment on the case to avoid being misinterpreted as using their judicial powers to meddle in it.
Chen's office on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the three judges, accusing them of abuse of power and violating the law and the Constitution for forming what it called “an illegal joint-decision court” to gain authority over Chen's cases.
Last month, the court extended Chen's detention for a third time. In the ruling, the judges reiterated several of the reasons cited in their previous detention rulings.
Among the reasons mentioned were that Chen could collude with witnesses, destroy evidence or try to abscond.
The court also cited Chen's “interference” with the case by talking to the public through friends and colleagues who visited him at the detention center.
Chen has been held at the Taipei Detention Center since last December.
He is suspected of money laundering, accepting bribes, forgery and embezzling NT$15 million (US$450,000) during his presidency.
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