Ma to declassify all Chen’s documents

"The Presidential Office thinks that none fits the descriptions of national secrets in the National Secret Protection Law," Ma's spokesman Wang Yu-chi said of the documents and materials involved in Chen's trial.

"They are not even secrets at all," Wang added.

The declassification is expected to help prosecutors' investigation into the alleged corruption case, but lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party described it as an unconstitutional move designed to persecute Chen.

Wang said the conclusion was made after Ma personally read through some of the documents and an ad hoc team conducted a careful examination of all of them.

None of the documents or materials that Chen had classified as national secrets actually involved information concerning military affairs, diplomatic operations or any other sensitive matter, Wang said.

Revelations of these documents would do no harm to national security or interests, he added.

The decision was a response to prosecutors' request to look into the classification status of the documents archiving Chen's use of his presidential state affairs expenses during his eight-year stint between 2000 and 2008.

Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, has been indicted on corruption charges for allegedly using false receipts to claim from the presidential state affairs expense account.

Prosecutors are also investigating the ex-president for his role in the alleged misuse of the fund, but their efforts have been hampered by the fact that Chen has classified all documents and evidence related to the case.

Wang said that previously, the Presidential Office thought Ma's granting the prosecution and the court access to the documents and evidence would be sufficient to facilitate the due process, but it has turned out that difficulties remain.

The spokesman declined to comment on the trial of Wu or the investigation of Chen.

But the DPP legislative caucus claimed Ma has made an unconstitutional decision that contradicts a ruling by the Council of Grand Justices concerning, the presidential power over national secrets.

They said the grand justices have clearly stated that the president has the authority to classify any documents concerning national security, national defense and foreign affairs.

Information classified by the president will stay secrets permanently, they said.

DPP Legislator Lawrence Gao said Ma is attempting a power struggle by inventing a measure to "cancel" the documents' classified status.

"This is tantamount to the incumbent president persecuting the former president. This is utterly unconstitutional, and a total disregard of the grand justices' ruling," Gao told a press conference.

He alleged that Ma is only trying to divert public attention from his incapability to fight inflation and restore the sagging economy.

"President Ma's Chen-bashing tactics, no matter how hard he tries, will be unable to boost the economy, fight inflation or help his popularity ratings rebound. It will only let the people realize what he really is," said Gao.

Gao said he had met with Chen before holding the press conference, but the former president did not express any opinions about the investigation targeting him.

But prosecutors welcomed Ma's decision, saying it will help facilitate their investigation.

Asked when prosecutors plan to question Chen, Chu Chao-liang, who heads the prosecution team in charge of the case, declined to provide details, saying it will depend on the progress of their probe.

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