Chen attends first hearing for appeal

Chen, who has been in custody since last December, arrived at the Taipei courthouse smiling, as some of his supporters rallied outside in the rain.

The defense argued that Chen could not have been involved in one of corruption cases — a land purchase by the government —that he was found guilty of by the Taipei District Court.

He blamed his wife Wu Shu-chen, who was allegedly maneuvering behind the purchase of a plot of land in Lungtan, Taoyuan County for a government science park project without him knowing.

He told the court he was unaware of commissions being given out in land deal.

The defense said the district court had convicted Chen of corruption and sentenced him to life imprisonment based purely on “conjectures.”

The district court judges assumed that Chen must have been aware of the irregularities behind the Lungtan deal because his wife was involved, his lawyers argued.

Chen was remanded to custody after the hearing.

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