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Church lambasts Ma
over treatment of Chen Shui-bian
By Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with Staff
writer
The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan yesterday lambasted President Ma Ying-jeou’s
(馬英九) administration for its treatment of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁),
while calling for medical parole for Chen.
In a press conference yesterday, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan General Assembly
moderator Pusin Tali (布興大立) said that Chen, serving an 18-and-a-half-year prison
term on corruption charges, has been imprisoned for 1,000-odd days at Taipei
Prison, where he shares a 1.3 ping (4.29m2) cell with another inmate and is
under 24-hour surveillance.
Treating any criminal like this is maniacal, no matter whether regarding it in
terms of human rights or from the perspective of the judiciary, he said.
“The government is treating A-bian [Chen’s nickname] like a prisoner of war,”
Tali said, adding that the Ma administration was not respecting Chen’s human
rights.
Tali also questioned the sudden change of judges presiding over Chen’s case,
saying that it did not correspond to judicial propriety. He also alleged that
the move was politically motivated.
Tali was referring to an event in 2009, when the Taipei District Court made a
decision to “combine cases” and turned over the Second Financial Reform case in
which Chen was implicated — then presided over by Taipei District Court Judge
Chou Chan-chun (周占春) — to Judge Tsai Shou-shun (蔡守訓), who presided over the
special secretaries case against the former president.
Tsai revoked Chou’s previous decision to release Chen without bail.
Reverend Lyim Hong-tiong (林芳仲) added that even former president Chiang Kai-shek
(蔣介石) had not treated his enemies in such a harsh manner. He referred to the
late general Chang Hsue-liang (張學良), saying that Chiang had only limited Chang’s
movements to his house in Taichung and had not imprisoned him.
Lin said that the Ma administration should entertain the option of detaining
Chen at his house, instead of in a prison.
“We do not wish to see Ma become more authoritarian and hope that he will listen
to public opinion,” Lin said.
He added that if Ma respected life, he should allow Chen Shui-bian to be
released on medical parole.
Meanwhile, the former president yesterday took leave of absence from the High
Court hearing of his state affairs fund case, with his lawyer citing that A-bian
was unable to narrate events in his own words.
To demonstrate that Chen Shui-bian’s stuttering would affect his ability to
coherently defend himself, his lawyer imitated how A-bian had spoken to him
about the court hearing.
The lawyer asked the court to cease hearing the case on the grounds that his
client should not be over-stimulated, citing Article 294 of the Criminal
Procedural Act (刑事訴訟法), which states that if a defendant is unable to be present
at court because of illness, the court should suspend hearing the matter until
the defendant can appear in court.
In response, the collegiate bench presiding over the case said that the opinions
of medical experts should be taken into consideration in deciding whether to
halt the hearings or not. It added that it has already sent a letter to the
Taipei Veterans General Hospital asking Chens doctor to report on his health.
The doctor’s response would form the prime basis for a decision on whether to
halt all hearings of the case, the court said, adding that it is willing to
cancel a hearing scheduled for March 19.
Additional reporting by Yang Kuo-wen
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