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Liberal International calls
for medical parole Taiwan ex-President
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=2052733&fb_comment_id=fbc_540481709301054_116678177_540581475957744#f35d786e8e24758
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) ˇV The annual congress of the Liberal International passed a
statement calling for medical parole for jailed former President Chen Shui-bian,
the opposition Democratic Progressive Party said Saturday.
The DPP is a member of the association, which groups over 60 Liberal parties
from all over the world. The organization is holding its 58th Congress in
Abidjan, Ivory Coast, October 17-21.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang sent the partyˇ¦s international affairs chief Liu
Shih-chung and Peng Ming-min Foundation board member Yang Huang Mei-hsing to the
conference to explain the latest developments in Chenˇ¦s case and to garner
international support for his cause.
After discussions, the assembly passed a unanimous motion calling on Taiwan to
allow medical parole so Chen could receive the best possible health care.
Chen, sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in prison on corruption charges, has been
spending the past month at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, first to
undergo tests which showed him to be suffering from a severe depression and
later to receive psychiatric treatment for that condition.
Prominent physicians have spearheaded a petition campaign to ask the government
to allow Chen treatment outside the Taipei Prison, but the authorities have so
far turned down the request.
In addition to DPP leaders, the effort has also received public support from a
host of organizations and prominent Taiwanese. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, a
leading member of the ruling Kuomintang, also said he thought Chen should be
eligible for medical parole.
Physicians say a host of health problems for the former president were caused by
his cramped living conditions at the jail in Kueishan, Taoyuan County, and by
the lack of movement. Prison officials say they have already accommodated his
requests and he is being kept as separate from other prisoners as possible for
his own safety.
Both the prison and Chen recently agreed that he would continue to receive
treatment at the Veterans General Hospital despite earlier objections to the
institutionˇ¦s close ties to the KMT and the military.
In a statement released by his office, Chen recently said that a certain level
of trust had grown between him and the medical team in charge of his treatment
at the hospital. As a result, he agreed to stay there for the rest of his
psychiatric course.
Friends and relatives had been looking for alternatives, in particular the
Mackay Memorial Hospital in Tamshui, New Taipei City, and the Kaohsiung Medical
University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital in the southern city, where most of Chenˇ¦s
close relatives live.
The campaign for medical parole has also been joined by overseas groups,
including members of the US Congress and US-based human rights activists. Some
of them visited Taiwan to obtain more details about Chenˇ¦s situation.
Separately, a wide range of prominent personalities have also called for a
special amnesty for the former president. In a reply to a lawmakerˇ¦s question,
Premier Sean Chen recently said he agreed with the statement that an amnesty for
Chen might reduce political tension and confrontation between the KMT and the
DPP.
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