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Free Taiwan・s former President Chen Shui-bian now |
2009-07-02 15:12:46 |
TA
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ip: 59 .X.X.X/.net |
Free Taiwan・s former President Chen Shui-bian now
A joint appeal of Taiwanese-American organizations
July 1, 2009
We, the undersigned representatives of Taiwanese-American organizations, hereby call upon the government in Taiwan to immediately end the incarceration of former President Chen Shui-bian. The continuing detention of Mr. Chen violates his fundamental human rights and represents a blatant miscarriage of justice.
The failure of the Taiwan Judiciary to conduct a fair, impartial and independent trial of Mr. Chen is evidenced by a litany of prosecutorial misdeeds. A few follow. First, in November, 2008, Mr. Chen was arrested, chained in handcuffs and held incommunicado before there was ever an indictment against him. Earlier he had been banned from leaving the country. Contrast this with the case of then Kuomintang (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou. Mr. Ma was not arrested, handcuffed or imprisoned at the time of his formal indictment for corruption on February 13, 2007, let alone during the pre-indictment period. He had no trouble leaving Taiwan for a visit to Singapore. The unequal application of law can not be starker. Second, Mr. Chou Chan-chun, head of the three-judge panel trying the former President, was relieved of his duties after the panel ended the detention of Mr. Chen on his own cognizance at the time of his indictment in December, 2008. Judge Tsai Shou-hsun, taking over from Mr. Chou, promptly returned Mr. Chen to the Taipei Detention Center. This switch of judges took place amid severe criticism by KMT legislators of Mr. Chou・s decision to free Mr. Chen. Third, Ministry of Justice employees, some of whom involved in Mr. Chen・s case, mocked him in a skit attended and apparently condoned by the Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng herself. Taiwan・s judicial professionalism sank to its nadir. Fourth, in May, 2009, in punishing Mr. Chen for his hunger strike, wardens at the Taipei Detention Center stripped him of his visitation privileges one time and not allowing him out of his cell three times, as well as confiscating his TV and radio. Such actions deprived Mr. Chen of his basic human rights.
These occurrences, taken together, strongly suggest that the detention of former President Chen has been politically motivated. This prolonged incarceration, now in excess of two hundred days, is unjustifiable legally and unconscionable on human rights grounds. It is unbecoming of Taiwan as a free and democratic country. We strongly urge the Ma government in Taiwan to release former President Chen Shui-bian now.
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