Three judges in conference with Tsai Shou-hsun will hear the case for three days in a row until January 21, a district court spokesman said yesterday.

President Chen will be summoned on the first day of the pre-trial hearings on the case of an illegal government purchase of land for a science-based industrial park at Longtan.

Tsai Ming-cheh, a personal aide to former first lady Wu Shu-chen, will also be subpoenaed along with two three other defendants.

On the second day of pre-trial hearings, the judges will question President Chen, his son and daughter-in-law, and Wu's brother Wu Ching-mao.

Whether Wu Shu-chen would be subpoenaed is unknown.

She is standing trial for corruption, charged with borrowing receipts from friends and relatives to claim a NT$14.8 million reimbursement from the "state affairs" fund.

The trial started toward the end of 2007. But she has refused to appear in court for reasons of poor health.