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Taiwan group in US pans verdict
‘PARTISAN’: The Formosan Association for Public Affairs said Friday’s ruling
to uphold former president Chen Shui-bian’s conviction would ‘continue to haunt’
Taiwan
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER , WASHINGTON
Sunday, Jun 13, 2010, Page 3
“In any democratic country, the severe flaws in the judicial process and the
obvious bias of the prosecution would have been ample reason to throw the case
out of court and dismiss the charges.”— Bob Yang, Formosan Association for
Public Affairs president
The Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) expressed
“deep disappointment” at the latest development in the embezzlement and
corruption case against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife, Wu
Shu-jen (吳淑珍).
The Taiwan High Court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling in September last
year that found Chen and Wu guilty of embezzling state funds, committing forgery
and laundering some of the money through Swiss bank accounts.
The High Court reduced Chen’s life sentence to 20 years in prison, and Wu’s life
sentence to 20 years and cut her fine from NT$300 million to NT$200 million. Six
of the other eight defendants, including Chen’s son and daughter-in-law, also
saw their sentences reduced. Chen’s lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.
FAPA, the largest group representing the Taiwanese community in the US, said
the High Court’s ruling only served to demonstrate that Taiwan’s judiciary “is
still tainted by its repressive past.”
“The reduction of the sentences does not take away the fact that the trial has
been highly partisan and unfair,” FAPA president Bob Yang (楊英育) said. “In any
democratic country, the severe flaws in the judicial process and the obvious
bias of the prosecution would have been ample reason to throw the case out of
court and dismiss the charges.”
“Taiwan needs fundamental judicial reform to bring it into the 21st century and
in line with the principles of a democracy in which there is clear separation of
powers,” he said.
In a statement, FAPA said that both the democratic opposition in Taiwan and
international scholars, such as former Harvard Law professor Jerome Cohen, had
cited “persistent partisanship and lack of fairness” in the proceedings
against Chen.
The statement said there was also frequent abuse by prosecutors who leaked
damaging information about Chen to the press.
According to the statement, Bruce Jacobs of Monash University in Australia said
the Chen case would “continue to haunt the legal system” in Taiwan.
Jacobs was quoted as saying that it was inappropriate for Chen to be kept in
detention during the trial and appeal process and that the reasons given by the
court for the continued detention were “flimsy.”
Chen was first detained at the Taipei Detention Center on Nov. 12, 2008, and
released on Dec. 13, 2008, after he was indicted. He was detained again on Dec.
30, 2008, and has remained in detention since.
On April 16, High Court Judge Teng Chen-chiu (鄧振球) ruled that Chen should remain
in custody for two more months, until June 23.
The court will decide before June 23 whether to detain him for another two
months.
In Taipei yesterday, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) declined to comment
when asked by reporters whether the court violated Chen’s human rights by
keeping him in custody for the duration of the trial.
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