The Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office yesterday said that President Chen Shui-bian (
Chang Wen-cheng (張文政), spokesman for the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office, confirmed yesterday that the president was interrogated on Aug. 7 at the Presidential Office and Wu was questioned on Aug. 20 at the official Yushan Residence (玉山官邸) .
"[Chen and Wu] were not accompanied by their lawyers, although we clearly told them they had the right to do so," Chang said at a press conference yesterday morning.
Prosecutors also informed the couple that the case under investigation "will very likely become one in which suspects could be charged with forgery or graft," and asked the two if they would like to have their lawyers with them. However, both parties replied that they saw "no need" to call their lawyers, he said.
Chang stressed that both the president and the first lady remain "legal parties" in the case and have not been enlisted as defendants, and that the prosecutors were obligated, in compliance with Article 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedures (刑事訴訟法), to tell any individual being questioned that he or she has the right to call a lawyer if there is a chance that the person might become a defendant in the case.
Chang said he could not confirm whether prosecutors would summon the president and the first lady again in the near future because of a gag order.
Both Chen and Wu clearly answered every question posed by the prosecutors, Chang said, adding that the president also provided some evidence in his defense.
Prosecutors will review and investigate the evidence provided by the president, Chang said.
The Presidential Office also confirmed that the president and his wife were questioned by prosecutors but dismissed the allegation that they refused to cooperate.
"We have submitted to prosecutors all the original receipts of the president's special allowance fund dating back to May 2000," Presidential Office spokesman David Lee (李南陽) said.
Lee said the president had made it clear on July 31 that he would be happy to personally explain his special allowance fund to prosecutors and investigators in a bid to help establish the truth.
When asked why they did not disclose the couple's meetings with prosecutors earlier, Lee said they were not in a position to offer details of a legal case and that the media should ask prosecutors for comment on the matter.
The Presidential Office issued a statement at 12:13am yesterday, telling the media that Chen did explain the matter to prosecutors at the Presidential Office on Aug. 7.
"The president stressed that he never pocketed the funds and that he respects the judicial investigation and will offer his full cooperation," the statement said.
The statement was made in response to a report published in Tuesday's edition of the Chinese-language China Times claiming that the investigation into the allowance fund hit a snag as the Presidential Office refused to provide receipts and documents.
SURPRISE GUEST: Media reports identified the visitor as Admiral Michael Studeman, director of the J2, which oversees intelligence at the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command A two-star US Navy admiral overseeing US military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan, two sources told Reuters on Sunday. The sources, who include a Taiwanese official familiar with the situation, said the official was Rear Admiral Michael Studeman. They were speaking on condition of anonymity. After initially saying on Sunday night that it had no comment about the report, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it welcomed the visit of an “unidentified US official,” but declined to give more details because the trip “has not been made public.” Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday
AUTUMN STRUGGLE: The KMT and TPP set up stages on the rally’s sidelines, while Want Want boss Tsai Eng-meng said the DPP was curtailing freedom of speech Tens of thousands of people in Taipei yesterday took part in the “Autumn Struggle” (秋鬥) — an annual protest march by labor groups — but with this year’s focus on rejecting the government’s plan to allow imports of US pork containing ractopamine residue. “Against poisonous pork, against double standards, against a party-state,” the protesters, mostly wearing black, chanted in front of the rally’s main stage on Ketagalan Boulevard at about noon, before a parade set off at 2pm. Autumn Struggle spokesperson Lee Chien-cheng (李建誠) said this year’s march was divided into three teams, with the first team urging food safety and labor
DEFENSE: The construction of indigenous submarines will be a testament to the nation’s commitment to safeguard its sovereignty, President Tsai Ing-wen said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the nation’s first indigenous submarine at state-run shipbuilder CSBC Corp’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. “This submarine is an important part of allowing our navy to develop asymmetric warfare and to intimidate and block enemy ships from surrounding Taiwan’s main island,” Tsai said. “With the construction of the submarine to its future commission, we will certainly let the world know our persistence in safeguarding our sovereignty.” Tsai has made boosting the nation’s indigenous defense capacity a central pillar of her defense policy. She recently relaunched the
TIMELINE QUESTIONS: Chen Shih-chung said: ‘If anyone could assure us that we could get the shots in the first quarter of next year, we could set off firecrackers’ Taiwan has secured nearly 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported five new imported infections among travelers from Indonesia and the Philippines. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that Taiwan on Monday signed a procurement contract with a COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer and paid a deposit to secure 10 million doses. It was the first contract finalized with a manufacturer and negotiations are under way with three other vaccine makers, Chen said. With the more than 4.6 million doses that can be obtained through the COVAX platform —
RSS