Professor Chen Fang-ming, a Taiwan literature expert from the National Chengchi University, said that Chen’s worst crime was not graft but how he made the Taiwanese lose their faith in fairness and justice by his lack of contrition and denials of guilt.
‘All our values have been twisted and distorted,’ he said.
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Ex-Taiwan leader Chen gets life term
He and his wife are found guilty of graft and money laundering
By Ho Ai Li
12 September 2009
TAIPEI: Former Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined yesterday for corruption and money laundering, the first ex-president found guilty of crime.
In the heavily barricaded Taipei District Court, Judge Tsai Shou-hsun also sentenced Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-chen, to life imprisonment and imposed a stiffer fine for similar crimes.
The couple were found guilty of lining their pockets with some NT$500 million (S$21.9 million) in bribes and government funds.
Among other things, they were found guilty of influencing the awarding of a building contract and a government land deal for money.
Aside from the life terms, Chen was fined NT$200 million and his wife, NT$300 million. Both were not in court, and will appeal against the verdict.
Their son Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching were also found guilty of money laundering - he was sentenced to 21/2 years’ jail while she received a suspended term of 20 months.
Eight others, including former aides to Chen, were also found guilty for their roles in the corruption case and received jail terms lasting three months to 20 years.
The Chens’ former cashier was let off for cooperating with the authorities.
In a 37-page summary of the judgment which ran to more than 1,000 pages, a three-judge panel saved its harshest comments for Chen, whom they described as a former lawyer, lawmaker, someone ‘held up as a symbol of justice’ and a two-term president.
‘But with this act, Chen has mixed personal with public interest and violated the law despite knowing it,’ the judges said.
‘He has not only gone against his conscience as a man of law, but also betrayed people’s trust and expectations.’
Yesterday’s guilty verdict marked a sad end for Chen, 58, an ex-chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who made history when he was elected president in 2000, ending the Kuo- mintang’s long hold on power. He was re-elected in 2004.
Prosecutors found that the former first family laundered their money through overseas accounts and paper companies in places from Singapore to Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.
While few were surprised that Chen and his wife were found guilty, given that Wu had been convicted of perjury in connection with the case, some had expected lighter sentences.
‘If the judges mete out a stiff sentence, it may spark a backlash among Chen supporters,’ political analyst Shih Cheng-feng of the National Dong Hwa University said before the sentencing.
He also noted that Chen had sounded resigned to being jailed in recent days to gain public sympathy and also to avoid crossing the judges.
Outside the court yesterday, about 200 Chen supporters shouted: ‘Ah-bian is not guilty!’ They jostled with policemen wielding plastic shields and rods.
DPP chairman Tsai Ing-wen, speaking to reporters, expressed regret at the heavy sentences meted out to Chen and his family. She pointed to the continued detention of Chen for nearly nine months, but also said that he should shoulder ‘political responsibility’ for wiring government funds overseas.
Chen’s office repeated claims of political persecution, saying that there was not enough evidence to convict the former president.
It also said the heavy jail terms that Chen’s aides Ma Yung-cheng and Lin Te-hsun received - 20 years and 16 years respectively - proved that there was a political agenda against Chen and those linked to him.
Ma and Lin were sentenced for their roles in misappropriating ‘special expenses’ funds for the ex-president, but Chen’s office said in a statement that both men had not pocketed a cent.
After the sentencing, questions remained over whether Chen’s wheelchair-bound wife would go to jail, given her poor health. It would also be months before an appeal is heard in a High Court, local newspapers noted.
Professor Chen Fang-ming, a Taiwan literature expert from the National Chengchi University, said that Chen’s worst crime was not graft but how he made the Taiwanese lose their faith in fairness and justice by his lack of contrition and denials of guilt.
‘All our values have been twisted and distorted,’ he said.
‘We are still in a wasteland and whether we can get out of it remains a question.’
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