‘I AM NOT GUILTY’:The prosecutors are out of touch with reality, and based their case on flimsy evidence and hearsay, former president Ma Ying-jeou said
Taipei Times
Date: Jul 08, 2017
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter
Two former presidents embroiled in separate legal battles were summoned to courts yesterday.
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), on medical parole, did not show up at the Taiwan High
Former president Ma Ying-jeou, left, leaves the Taipei District Court for lunch recess yesterday. He was attending a court hearing in a case over charges of leaking state secrets. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Court, while former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) defended himself at the Taipei District Court.
Tseng Te-shui (曾德水), the presiding judge at the Taiwan High Court, summoned Chen and his defense lawyers to appear at yesterday’s hearing for a retrial of allegations of bribe-taking and corruption during a series of bank mergers.
Chen and his attorney, Jerry Cheng (鄭文龍), applied beforehand to be absent from the hearing, while the two other lawyers, Shih Yi-lin (石宜琳) and Hung Kwei-san (洪貴參), said medical evaluation was not part of their professional training and they were unable to give opinions on Chen’s health situation.
Tseng proceeded with the hearing, despite Chen’s and his legal team’s absence, and reviewed video of Chen’s appearances at social functions.
Tseng said the former president had been walking and speaking in a normal manner, and that he had not seen signs of stuttering or impairment when talking with others.
“The video also showed Chen held conversations with other guests, was able to eat with chopsticks at dinner banquets and held a glass as a gesture of appreciation to other guests. His hands were not shaking as they did before,” Tseng said. [FULL STORY]
