NO LACK OF DRAMA IN FORMER PRESIDENT CHEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 000223 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL CH TW SUBJECT: NO LACK OF DRAMA IN FORMER PRESIDENT CHEN SHUI-BIAN'S PRE-TRIAL HEARINGS Classified By: AIT Acting Director Robert S. Wang, Reasons: 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Former President Chen Shui-bian used pre-trial hearings this week to attack the credibility of several prosecutors, to plea for release from detention, and to claim he was being unfairly singled out for political reasons. As expected, Chen pleaded not guilty on all corruption-related charges. The most dramatic parts of the hearings, however, were Chen's series of headline-grabbing allegations: that a prosecutor had suppressed a compromising video of President Ma and a radio DJ nicknamed "Chocolate," that former President Lee Teng-hui and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) had received funds from the Chinese Communist Party, and that prosecutors were guilty of misconduct in their interviewing and taping of witnesses. At various points in the hearings Chen alternately appeared either distraught or listless and exhausted. The judge cut short Thursday's session and held a special hearing on whether to release Chen from detention on health grounds. Chen is still confined at the detention center, and his next hearing is scheduled for March 4. End Summary. Day 1: Chen Steals the Show -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Taipei District Court held three days of pre-trial procedural hearings on President Chen Shui-bian's corruption-related cases this week. Chen's lawyers, who had released portions of witness interview videos to the media, accused prosecutors of improper behavior and called for the testimony (damaging to Chen) to be withdrawn from evidence. The lawyers claimed that the questioning of some witnesses was improper and also that some portions of the interview sessions were missing or inaudible. In addition to defending their questioning and the recordings, the prosecutors criticized Chen's lawyers for taking portions of recordings out of context and for invading witness privacy by releasing the videos to the media. ¶3. (C) Pleading not guilty to corruption-related charges, Chen dramatically accused prosecutors of interfering in politics and covering up alleged KMT misdeeds. Chen accused former President Lee also of money laundering and taking kickbacks. One prosecutor, he claimed, had told him he had information that former President Lee Teng-hui and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) had received donations from the 
Chinese Communist Party. The proescutor later said it was Chen who provided this alleged information. Chen charged that another prosecutor had acted to suppress an alleged compromising video of Ma Ying-jeou and a radio DJ nicknamed "Chocolate" during the 2008 presidential campaign. In a separate conversation with poloffs, DPP Special Advisor Bikhim Hsiao said "Chocolate's" estranged wife had tried but failed to sell a video to DPP candidate Frank Hsieh's campaign. The prosecutor said publicly that the wife, with whom he was acquainted, asked his advice about releasing the video and he advised her not to do so. In reaction to Chen's antics, Bikhim Hsiao lamented that the former president appeared to have "gone out of his mind." Day 2: Exhausting Marathon Session Tires Chen -------------- - ¶4. (SBU) On the second day of hearings, Chen's lawyers drew out the session with a seemingly endless attack on the credibility of witness testimonies. The session lasted 12 hours as lawyers laboriously discussed testimony page by page, Chen dozing off at one point. Because of the slow pace of the proceedings, the court added four more days (March 4, 10, 11, 18) to the originally scheduled three days of procedural hearings. The court also rejected a request by Chen's lawyers for his immediate release from detention. Day 3: Session A Bust, Judge Debates Chen's Release -------------- -------------- TAIPEI 00000223 002 OF 002 ¶5. (SBU) After a very abbreviated morning session on Thursday, Judge Tsai Shou-hsun called a recess as Chen appeared exhausted and listless. Chen complained he had not slept the previous night and was so tired he could not concentrate. He also pleaded emotionally to be released from detention so he could go home to take care of his frail wife. During the extended recess, Chen did not rest or eat the food provided by the bailiffs. After unexpectedly calling off the afternoon session, Judge Tsai held a special hearing to listen to arguments by prosecutors and lawyers on whether Chen, who has seemed a bit erratic recently, should be released from detention for health reasons. The judge did not immediately make a final ruling, and so Chen was returned to the detention center at the end of the day, angering his supporters inside and outside the turbulent courthouse. The next day, February 27, the Taiwan High Court ordered the District Court to again review the issue of Chen's detention. Comment: What It May Mean -------------- ¶6. (C) Press and media analysts have speculated on Chen's recent tactics. Chen's courtroom behavior may be intended to achieve several goals. Most important, Chen and his lawyers would like to damage the credibility of the prosecutors, in hopes this would provide an opportunity to undermine their case against him. Following an earlier release to the media of a photograph of two of the prosecutors talking to Chen at a Buddhist temple ceremony, the Control Yuan in mid-February demanded that they be removed from the team handling Chen's case. The Control Yuan has given the Supreme Prosecutor's Office two months to comply with its order. ¶7. (C) Chen is also trying to win release from detention. His exhaustion, appetite loss, hunger strikes, mood swings, and emotional pleas may garner some public sympathy. More generally, Chen's various claims and revelations about the prosecutors and other political leaders are diverting media attention away from the charges that he accepted bribes, embezzled official funds, and laundered millions of dollars. He may also hope his claims will bolster his case that he is a victim of political persecution. WANG