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Saturday 12 September 2009
Couple’s appeal could take five years
Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-chen could be expected to mount a vigorous fight against the life sentences handed down to them yesterday but any decision by Taiwan’s highest court was years away, top lawyers say.
Lawrence Chung in Taipei and Kristine Kwok 12 September 2009
Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-chen could be expected to mount a vigorous fight against the life sentences handed down to them yesterday but any decision by Taiwan’s highest court was years away, top lawyers say.
Kao Yung-cheng, general-secretary of the Taipei Bar Association, said it could be four to five years before Taiwan’s high court gave a final verdict on the case - especially if it decided to reinvestigate the case after hearing an appeal.
Kao said there was a good chance that could happen given the complexity of the case.
“If this happens it could take another couple of years. So in the end the whole process could take four to five years,” Kao said.
Chen and his wife were sentenced after being convicted of embezzling state funds, bribery and money laundering.
Wu Shu-chen, who is in a wheelchair, was almost certain to avoid a jail cell. Taiwanese law does not allow people who cannot look after themselves to be incarcerated, so she will likely serve her sentence at home, several lawyers said.
But the couple were unlikely to see the court’s decision reversed even if the Democratic Progressive Party, which Chen once headed, regained power in the next presidential election.
Hong Kong-based analyst Wong Ka-ying said the Chen family’s trials showed that Taiwan’s legal system had become independent from politics.
“It’s not likely that the court and judges could change their mind under the influence of politics,” Wong said.
In total, 13 people were sentenced yesterday over the affair.
In addition to the former first couple. Chen’s son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching, were jailed for 30 and 20 months respectively.
The president’s brother-in-law, Wu Ching-mao, and sister-in-law, Chen Chun-ying, were given two years, suspended for five years, for helping launder money abroad.
Two former chief aides, Ma Yung-cheng and Lin Teh-hsun, were given 20 and 16 years, respectively, for helping and covering up the embezzlement, a court spokesman said.
A third aide, Chen Cheng-hui, who was the ex-leader’s chief accountant, was spared because she provided information to the prosecution.
Three other businessmen charged with bribery were given sentences ranging from three months to two years, suspended for five years, for co-operating with prosecutors in confessing their crimes.
Lee Chieh-mu, a former science park director, was given six years for accepting NT$30 million in bribes in a land deal case involving the former first couple,
Immediately after the ruling, Chen’s office slammed it as “absurd and illegal”, saying the ruling not only violated the constitution but was also aimed at “exterminating the former first family”.
The office condemned the ruling as politically motivated, calling it a “political trial” by mainland-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, who wanted to lock up Chen to appease Beijing. The office also warned that the ruling would intensify the political divide in Taiwan.
Chen, who has tried to build up his image as the hero of sovereignty by vowing to turn the island into an independent state, has repeatedly denied all charges, saying he, at most, only committed a “moral crime” for failing to discipline his family.
Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen yesterday called for the immediate release of Chen, who has been held at the Taipei Detention Centre since December 30.
“The judicial authorities must release him to give him some room to concentrate in the appealing,” she said.
Most Kuomintang lawmakers were satisfied with the ruling, however, and said the trial had been fair. Some maintained that the sentence for Chen’s son and daughter-in-law were too lenient.
The Presidential Office yesterday declined to comment, saying it respects whatever decision is made by the court.
The sentences
Chen Shui-bian Life imprisonment and fine of NT$200 million (HK$47.5 million)
Wu Shu-chen, wife. Life imprisonment and fine of NT$300 million
Chen Chih-chung, son. Two years and six months, fine of NT$150 million
Huang Jui-ching, daughter-in-law. One year and eight months, fine of NT$150 million. (Jail term will be reduced to a five-year suspended term if she pays an extra NT$200 million.)
2 comments:
Couple’s appeal could take five years
Chen and Wu’s fight is ‘far from over’
Lawrence Chung in Taipei and Kristine Kwok
12 September 2009
Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-chen could be expected to mount a vigorous fight against the life sentences handed down to them yesterday but any decision by Taiwan’s highest court was years away, top lawyers say.
Kao Yung-cheng, general-secretary of the Taipei Bar Association, said it could be four to five years before Taiwan’s high court gave a final verdict on the case - especially if it decided to reinvestigate the case after hearing an appeal.
Kao said there was a good chance that could happen given the complexity of the case.
“If this happens it could take another couple of years. So in the end the whole process could take four to five years,” Kao said.
Chen and his wife were sentenced after being convicted of embezzling state funds, bribery and money laundering.
Wu Shu-chen, who is in a wheelchair, was almost certain to avoid a jail cell. Taiwanese law does not allow people who cannot look after themselves to be incarcerated, so she will likely serve her sentence at home, several lawyers said.
But the couple were unlikely to see the court’s decision reversed even if the Democratic Progressive Party, which Chen once headed, regained power in the next presidential election.
Hong Kong-based analyst Wong Ka-ying said the Chen family’s trials showed that Taiwan’s legal system had become independent from politics.
“It’s not likely that the court and judges could change their mind under the influence of politics,” Wong said.
In total, 13 people were sentenced yesterday over the affair.
In addition to the former first couple. Chen’s son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching, were jailed for 30 and 20 months respectively.
The president’s brother-in-law, Wu Ching-mao, and sister-in-law, Chen Chun-ying, were given two years, suspended for five years, for helping launder money abroad.
Two former chief aides, Ma Yung-cheng and Lin Teh-hsun, were given 20 and 16 years, respectively, for helping and covering up the embezzlement, a court spokesman said.
A third aide, Chen Cheng-hui, who was the ex-leader’s chief accountant, was spared because she provided information to the prosecution.
Three other businessmen charged with bribery were given sentences ranging from three months to two years, suspended for five years, for co-operating with prosecutors in confessing their crimes.
Lee Chieh-mu, a former science park director, was given six years for accepting NT$30 million in bribes in a land deal case involving the former first couple,
Immediately after the ruling, Chen’s office slammed it as “absurd and illegal”, saying the ruling not only violated the constitution but was also aimed at “exterminating the former first family”.
The office condemned the ruling as politically motivated, calling it a “political trial” by mainland-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, who wanted to lock up Chen to appease Beijing. The office also warned that the ruling would intensify the political divide in Taiwan.
Chen, who has tried to build up his image as the hero of sovereignty by vowing to turn the island into an independent state, has repeatedly denied all charges, saying he, at most, only committed a “moral crime” for failing to discipline his family.
Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen yesterday called for the immediate release of Chen, who has been held at the Taipei Detention Centre since December 30.
“The judicial authorities must release him to give him some room to concentrate in the appealing,” she said.
Most Kuomintang lawmakers were satisfied with the ruling, however, and said the trial had been fair. Some maintained that the sentence for Chen’s son and daughter-in-law were too lenient.
The Presidential Office yesterday declined to comment, saying it respects whatever decision is made by the court.
The sentences
Chen Shui-bian
Life imprisonment and fine of NT$200 million (HK$47.5 million)
Wu Shu-chen, wife.
Life imprisonment and fine of NT$300 million
Chen Chih-chung, son.
Two years and six months, fine of NT$150 million
Huang Jui-ching, daughter-in-law.
One year and eight months, fine of NT$150 million. (Jail term will be reduced to a five-year suspended term if she pays an extra NT$200 million.)
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