Supporters tie yellow ribbons for Chen

Leaders of groups advocating Taiwan independence and church priests held a joint press conference to urge people to tie yellow ribbons at public places to call for international attention to the continuing detention of the former president.

More than one million yellow ribbons will be distributed at DPP branch offices islandwide for the first phase of the publicity campaign.

The yellow ribbons will be tied at public places such as Taipei Railway Station, which also doubles as the main station of the mass rapid transit system and the high speed rail service.

Supporters will be mobilized to tie yellow ribbons on the streets leading from the Taipei Detention Center located in Tucheng City of Taipei County, where Chen has been held in custody, to 228 Peace Park in Taipei City starting from 2:00 p.m. on July 12.

Organizers of the campaign said the former president has been detained for more than 200 days while prosecutors still fail to turn up solid evidence for Chen's involvement in the alleged embezzlement of public funds and money-laundering operations.

They said the yellow ribbons will highlight the unjust treatment toward the former president and other alleged suspects by the administration of the ruling Kuomintang.

The former president has so far insisted his innocence and denied any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, Chen's daughter, Chen Hsing-yu, had another scuffle yesterday with TV news crews who surrounded her to solicit comments when she was on her way to work at a dental clinic.

At one point, she attempted to chase and strike the cameramen after raising her voice at the ubiquitous reporters.

Commenting on her another public outburst, the DPP said the mass media should respect the basic human rights of interviewees and refrain from harassing them.

Alerted by the former first daughter's latest and unbridled rage in public, officials in charge of social affairs at the Ministry of Interior and Taipei City said they have been closely monitoring the situation and are ready to provide necessary assistance.

But they denied that her family has been put on a list of “high risk families” requiring special attention from social workers.

When cornered by reporters, Chen Hsing-yu has lost control of herself on several occasions after she was indicted in early June for allegedly making false statements in an earlier investigation, and after her request for lifting her travel ban was more recently denied.

Her father, ex-President Chen, had written a letter to President Ma Ying-jeou asking the incumbent national leader to offer help so that she may to go to the U.S. and continue her studies in dentistry school in New York.

Chen expressed his grave concern that his daughter could slip into mental disorder, attempt suicide, or even commit suicide along with her three sons if she is prevented from continuing her dentistry studies in the U.S.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office has summoned former first lady Wu Shu-chen for a new questioning session next Tuesday afternoon to clarify if she had instructed her children to make false testimonies.

Her daughter Chen Hsing-yu, son-in-law Chao Chien-ming and son Chen Chih-chung have all been named as defendants for perjury and prohibited from leaving the country.

Sources said that the travel ban might be removed if the investigation into the perjury case is wrapped up before the end of the month.

But there is another possibility that the former first daughter will be allowed to go abroad after she receives judicial punishment, in case she is convicted, according to the sources.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email