Taiwan’s Former President Is Indicted台湾・陳前総統、 保釈、

台湾・陳前総統、１カ月ぶりに保釈　収賄罪などで起訴

2008年12月13日10時55

【台北＝野嶋剛】１２日に不正送金によるマネーロンダリング（資金洗浄）や収賄の罪で起訴された台湾の陳水扁前総統が１３日未明に保釈され、逮捕からおよそ１カ月ぶりに台北市の自宅に戻った。

　台北地裁は陳前総統に逃亡の恐れがないとの理由で、検察側の勾留（こうりゅう）の継続請求を却下した。台湾中央通信によると、陳前総統は「皆さんの支援のおかげで最もつらく最も孤独な３２日間を終えられたことに感謝したい」と述べた。

紐約時報的簡報或許比較可參考

Taiwan’s Former President Is Indicted

By ANDREW JACOBS

Published: December 12, 2008

BEIJING — Chen Shui-bian, who served eight years as president of Taiwan, was indicted Friday on corruption charges, making him the first former president of the island to face criminal prosecution.

Mr. Chen, who served from 2000 to last May, faces charges that he and his family pocketed millions of dollars in campaign funds. “Ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s crimes are major,” Chen Yun-nan, a spokesman for the Supreme Court’s special prosecutor’s office, said. “We will ask the courts to give ex-President Chen Shui-bian the strictest punishment.”

Mr. Chen has been in police custody since Nov. 12, when the authorities announced a variety of allegations involving money laundering, embezzlement and other crimes. A vocal advocate for Taiwanese independence, Mr. Chen, 57, has denied the charges, saying his prosecution is a politically motivated attack by his successor, President Ma Ying-jeou.

Mr. Ma and other leaders of the Kuomintang, the Chinese Nationalist Party, have rejected the suggestion that they are influencing prosecutors.

The charges against Mr. Chen, of the rival Democratic Progressive Party, stem from an investigation that began during his second term and involve accusations that senior aides and relatives embezzled millions of dollars in campaign funds. Mr. Chen’s son, daughter-in-law and wife have also been charged in the scandal, as have 11 other family members and aides.

A populist with a flair for the dramatic, Mr. Chen has been a frequent critic of China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province. Unlike Mr. Chen, who is an ardent supporter of Taiwanese independence, Mr. Ma has been conciliatory toward Beijing.

Last month, shortly after his arrest, Mr. Chen went on a hunger strike, and after five days of not eating, he was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat.

His arrest and indictment are the latest chapter in a long series of political and legal battles in Taiwan.

Mr. Ma was indicted last year over the use of money while he was mayor of Taipei. The Supreme Court cleared him of the charges, paving the way for his presidential candidacy.