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Court dismisses civil
case against Chen Shui-bian
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Taipei District Court yesterday dismissed a case brought by the Hsinchu
Science Park Administration in which it was seeking compensation of NT$400
million (US$13.4 million) from former president Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) and his
family.
Chen, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence for corruption,
appeared in court for the only civil case among several corruption cases in
which he is involved and expressed gratitude for the verdict via his lawyer.
The court said the case was dismissed because the park administration had not
proven that it had suffered substantial damage in the case, in which Chen was
accused of taking bribes in a government land procurement deal in Longtan (Às¼æ),
Taoyuan County, in 2004.
Lawyer Yeh Shu-hung (¸®¤§»), who represented the administration, said the it would
discuss whether to appeal.
Quoting the former president, Chen¡¦s lawyer Hung Kuei-tsan (¬x¶Q°Ñ) said Chen had
expected the verdict and that he expressed his gratitude to the court, as well
as everyone who had supported him.
Chen was still complaining of chest pains and was hoping that he would receive
appropriate treatment, Hung added.
The court said Chen and former first lady Wu Shu-jen (§d²Q¬Ã) did not participate
in the negotiations for the land deal, when the total price of NT$860 million
was slashed to NT$760 million by the legislature, and there was no evidence to
prove Chen had taken kickbacks of NT$400 million, as the administration alleged.
The administration accused Chen of taking the bribes from business tycoon Leslie
Koo (¶d¦¨¤¹) after the former president demanded that it purchase a plot of land
from Koo.
The administration also claimed that it was unable to obtain ownership of the
land, an argument dismissed by the court because the land is now transferable.
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