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Chen Shui-bian
backers urge immediate release
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Supporters of imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday
submitted a petition to the Legislative Yuan calling for the physically and
emotionally exhausted Chen to be immediately released from Taipei Prison, where
he is serving a 17-and-a-half-year term on corruption charges.
“It doesn’t take a physician to understand that Chen is unhealthy if you’re able
to meet him face-to-face,” Taipei Veterans General Hospital physician Kuo Cheng-deng
(郭正典), who is part of a six-member task force comprised of physicians and rights
advocates monitoring Chen’s health, told a press conference held outside the
legislature.
The task force, which includes National Taiwan University physician Ko Wen-che
(柯文哲) and former Northern Taiwan Society director Janice Chen (陳昭姿), has visited
Chen three times for preliminary examinations.
Two symptoms — gastroesophageal reflux and a pulmonary embolism, a blockage of
the main artery of the lung — are among the 13 conditions the task force found
which they listed as being of serious concern, Kuo said.
Chen’s character also appears to be flagging, given that everything he does in
his cell is monitored by 24-hour surveillance cameras, he said.
This explains why Chen would pledge to leave prison alive on the one hand and
would then be contemplating suicide on the other, Kuo said.
The demonstration was held in front of the legislative body with about 200
people from various civic organizations taking part and holding placards and
banners urging Chen be released for medical treatment.
Seeking better medical treatment would be nothing more than a reaffirmation of
Taiwan’s support for freedom and human rights, Janice Chen said.
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