Taiwan ex-leader appeals life sentence

Taiwan’s former president Chen Shui-bian yesterday filed an appeal against his corruption conviction three days after he was sentenced to life in jail, an aide said.
Chen was convicted Friday by the Taipei District Court for taking bribes, embezzling state funds and forging documents among other charges, at the climax of a court drama that gripped the island’s 23 million people.
His wheelchair-bound wife Wu Shu-chen was also given a life term on graft charges.
Under Taiwanese law, a life sentence is automatically appealed. But Chen’s move is aimed as a protest, according to long-time aide Chiang Chih-ming.
“The appeal of his own is aimed to highlight his strong objection to the unfair trial,” Chiang told AFP.
The former leader, who stepped down in May last year, demanded that “the High Court be fair, impartial and transparent in handling the case,” his office said in a brief statement.
High Court spokesman Wen Yao-yuan pledged yesterday an unbiased selection of judges to hear the appeal.
“All the 90 judges of the high court have to publicly participate in an open and fair draw,” he said.
The 58-year-old Chen – held at a detention centre since December – has blasted the trial as revenge carried out by political opponents for his eight years in power when he pursued independence from China.