Taiwan's former President Chen Shui-bian has been detained in connection with
corruption claims.
Mr Chen spent much of Tuesday being questioned by prosecutors in Taipei,
before being led away in handcuffs.
He is accused of money laundering and illegally using a special presidential
fund during his eight years in office, which ended in May.
He denies any wrongdoing, and accuses the new administration of persecuting
him to bow to the wishes of Beijing.
Mr Chen is an ardent supporter of Taiwanese independence, and a trenchant
critic of President Ma Ying-jeou's Kuomintang (KMT) administration, which he
accuses of pandering to Beijing.
His arrest comes days after a historic visit to the island by a senior
Chinese envoy was marred by violent protests.
Political persecution?
The former leader, who held power from 2000 to 2008, spent more than six
hours in the prosecutor's office on Tuesday answering questions about
corruption.
As he was led out towards a waiting vehicle, he put his handcuffed hands in
the air and shouted "political persecution" to an audience of dozens of
protesting supporters.
"The KMT and the Chinese Communist Party see me as their number one prisoner
as I am the biggest stone blocking their way to reunification," Mr Chen told
reporters, according to the French news agency AFP.
He said the Chinese envoy, Chen Yunlin, "had a bad time in Taiwan... so Ma
Ying-jeou wants to put me in jail as a sacrifice to appease China. I am very
honoured and proud to play such a role."
And the former president vowed not to be "imprisoned in vain".
Although he has been detained, it appears he has yet to be formally arrested.
However he clearly expects to be, and said so at a news conference earlier in
the day.
'Embezzlement'
Mr Chen and his family have been mired in corruption allegations since 2006,
when his son-in-law was charged with insider trading on the stock market and
then jailed for seven years.
The former president is under investigation for allegedly embezzling 14.8
million Taiwan dollars (US$480,500; ￡306,000) from the government.
The charges have damaged the reputation of the main opposition Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), observers say, which now faces a rough ride in local
elections next year.
---------------------------------FROM BBC NES-----------------------------------------
雖然我著實不想浪費時間在評論一位
被收押禁見的貪汙嫌疑犯身上
但我還是不得不佩服陳先生以及某些團體
模糊焦點的絕妙高招
特偵組難道是成立在520之後嗎？
國務機要費難道是在馬先生當選之後才爆出來的嗎？
陳家人被牽扯在貪污疑雲難道是國民黨執政之後硬扣上去的帽子嗎？
如果是這樣 我當初不會如此篤定捨謝投馬
我始終不明白的是那些不願意正視事實的發言
我始終覺得荒謬的是那些牽拖黨派政治的控訴
那些人仍然不明白何謂「認錯」
那些人仍然不懂得何謂「道歉」
諷刺的是那些人一天到晚索求他人的「道歉」
然後繼續模糊焦點，繼續控訴他人
繼續牽拖在他們一貫擅長製造的對立主張
具有犯罪事實就應接受懲罰
請不要再控訴政治迫害
請不要再控訴司法不公
那只是污辱了人民用政黨輪替換來的民主
--
我其實默默期待著下一次的政黨輪替
縱使我覺得短期之內再無可能
即使曾經執政八年
似乎還是扮演街頭抗爭的在野角色更適合民進黨
--
留言列表
