Chen: Ma case similar to mine, verdict different

Chen told the high court that he had studied Ma's acquittal and found that his own case and Ma's were similar in nature but the outcomes were different.

Chen was convicted of corruption and sentenced to life by the Taipei District Court for misusing funds from the presidential expense account.

The lower court found that money from Chen's expense account had been spent on personal items.

Ma had also stood trial for allegedly misusing from the special mayoral fund while heading the Taipei City government from 1998 to 2006.

But he was subsequently cleared of all charges.

Chen, who has been detained since last December, was escorted to the high court yesterday for his appeal trial, as his supporters rallied outside the courthouse to show support.

Chen told the court that he had found that Ma's special mayoral fund had been directed remitted to the personal account of his wife Christine Chou.

Ma's money had been used to pay for telephone, gas, water and electricity bills, Chen said.

It had also been used to pay for credit card bills from the United States -- sums that apparently Ma's daughter had spent, he added.

He claimed Ma, who must have been busy as mayor, could not have been aware of how the money had been used.

He was acquitted because the court determined that he no intentions to break the law.

Chen argued that in his own case, he, as the head of state, was much busier than the mayor, and could not have been aware of the use of money from the presidential account.

“But I was (unfairly) sentenced to life for corruption,” Chen told the court.

His wife, Wu Shu-chen, was also given a life sentence in the same case for helping Chen reimburse from the presidential expense account.

While Chen has spent months in custody, the wheelchair-bound former first lady has been out on bail due to health concerns.

The couple, their family and some of their former aides have been charged in several corruption cases.

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