Director of Nantou County's Bureau of Social Affairs, Chen Wan-chen (
Chen said she had requested two-week's leave and would continue to campaign for Peng until he is released.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Peng has been remanded in custody since Nov. 14 on corruption charges. The prosecution suspects that the commissioner of the county worst hit by the devastating 921 earthquake has misappropriated post-quake relief donations and unlawfully manipulated the contracting process for reconstruction projects.
But Chen and other supporters of Peng said, as his detention moved into its 56th day yesterday, that he must be released immediately because no evidence of his alleged corruption has been found.
"The prosecutors are using imprisonment as a means of forcing him to plead guilty," Chen said yesterday morning as she led some 30 followers from Nantou to petition the Control Yuan, asking the state's highest watchdog to investigate whether prosecutors had abused their powers.
Control Yuan member Kang Ning-hsiang (
The group then went to the Ministry of Justice.
The protesters held banners and placards reading "Release Peng Pai-hsien" and "Objection: prosecutors abuse power," slogans which they also chanted, and sat down before the justice ministry building, where Chen made a speech.
Chen said Peng himself had gone on hunger strike in Nantou Detention House on Jan. 2.
The prosecution denied this but the detention house authorities were not available for comment.
"It's been 56 days [since Peng was taken into detention]. The prosecutors have not made any progress in the investigation. They did not find any evidence suggesting that Peng had stolen a cent; they just keep asking Peng the same questions during interrogations," Chen said. "Can two mere unaccounted-for pieces of paper be called evidence?"
The prosecutors earlier had seized as evidence a note that ordered the account books belonging to Peng's foundation be destroyed, as well as another note ordering that higher authorities be sought to intervene into the investigation of the case. The Nantou District Court cited these two findings when ruling that Peng be detained.
But prosecutors have admitted that the notes were not in Peng's handwriting.
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
Chen told Yen that the ministry should not shirk its responsibility on the matter by continuing to insist it does not intervene in particular cases under investigation.
"The ministry must intervene to do something. There are no legal grounds for Peng's continued detention, while the progress in reconstruction of disaster areas is seriously affected by the absence of the commissioner."
Yen, however, only said he would pass the petition to Chen Ding-nan.
After her protest in Taipei, Chen returned to Nantou in the afternoon and began her hunger strike.
The Nantou divisional head prosecutor, Hsu Sung-kuei (
He said the prosecution had achieved much in the investigation work after Peng's detention, though the detailed findings were not to be made public.
He also said it was the district court, not the prosecution, which had ruled for Peng's detention. "We just petitioned them to do so," he said.
Midnight tonight is the deadline for the prosecution to petition for an extension of Peng's detention for another two months. But Hsu said last night that the prosecution has not yet decided whether to make the request.
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