JURIST - Paper Chase: Former Taiwan president on hunger strike in jail

[JURIST] Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian [BBC profile] continued a hunger strike in the Tucheng jail in suburban Taipei Thursday after being incarcerated [JURIST report] Wednesday, according to local media reports. While there are no official charges against Chen, the former leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) [official website] was arrested [JURIST report] Tuesday and questioned by prosecutors for some five hours. He is alleged to have committed money laundering and to have made illegal use of government funds during his presidency. He maintains his innocence, however, claiming he is being victimized because of his advocacy for Taiwan's independence and opposition to the ruling Nationalist Party. The court is holding Chen for up to four months to segregate him from alleged co-conspirators. AP has more.

Shui-bian spent eight months in the same Tucheng jail twenty-one years ago for defaming Nationalist leaders. In September, Chen was cleared [JURIST report] on more recent defamation charges. Last year while Shui-bian was still in power, he was tied [JURIST report] to an allegedly corrupt lawmaker.

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