High court decides to detain Chen Shui-bian

Though a very liberal judge, Teng could not set a precedent by releasing the former president. Teng joined in the second fraud trial of Song Chi-li in 2003.

A guru of former premier Frank Hsieh, Sung had been sentenced to seven years behind bars by the Taipei district court. He was found guilty of raking in millions of molars from the faithful by claiming he could levitate and possess a "universal light body." He and Hsieh went together by levitation to Paris to visit the Eiffel Tower, the once convicted guru told his disciples, some of them rebelling and suing him for fraud.

Teng absolved Sung on "religious" grounds, however.

Even if the petition were accepted, Teng and his two lady judges would have a hard time turning down the request by three prosecutors to place President Chen under detention to prevent his possible collusion with other suspects and intimidation of witnesses against the misappropriation of funds for secret diplomacy.

He was indicted on Tuesday for the misappropriation of UST$330,000 in petty cash in his 11 diplomatic sallies while he was president from 2000 to 2008. The money was given his son Chen Chih-chung studying in the United States, prosecutors said.

His National Security Council secretary-general Chiou I-jen and deputy minister of foreign affairs Michael Kau were also formally charged with misappropriating NT$500,000 in the conduct of Operation An-Ya, a diplomatic venture. Part of the money is believed to go to the ex-president's private coffer.

Prosecutors would argue there is no option but to detain President Chen lest he should flee Taiwan.

At the end of the hearing, which lasted six hours and three quarters, Teng announced his court considers Chen is under "extremely serious criminal suspicion," which makes it impossible to release him on bail

"He was sentenced to life imprisonment for that serious crime," Teng went on. "In order to make sure that the future trial can be fairly held and punishment duly enforced," he said, "this court rules that he should be held in detention in accordance with Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Section One of Article 101 of the Code of Criminal Procedure."

Another reason cited for the continued custody was the possibility of his escape out of country, where he has more than sufficient money laundered.

As a former president, Teng said, Chen could make good his escape with the help of his supporters. "He is familiar with the channels of escape," he pointed out.

There was no need for Taipei district court prosecutors to request Chen's continued detention. President Chen under custody will be tried at the Taipei district court, along with Chiou and Kau.

No dates have been fixed by the presiding judge for trying the unprecedented corruption case at the court of appeals.

He and his panel will also look into charges against the ex-first family's money laundering as well.

But there's a one-in-a-million chance that the liberal presiding judge may acquit President Chen just as he absolved Sung the guru.

Should that happen, the Special Counsel would appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will remit the case back to the appellate court for retrial. At any rate, the trial of the century will go on and on for a couple of years to come.

1|2

PrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email