Taiwan's former President Chen Shui-bian has gone on a hunger strike to protest his jailing, his lawyer said Thursday, while legal woes mounted for family members also implicated in the corruption scandal. Lawyer Cheng Wen-lung said Chen has refused food since entering his cell to protest "the death of the law and to mourn the decline of democracy" under the "authoritarian regime" of the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT).
In a stunning fall from grace, Chen, who just six months ago held the island's top office, was detained Wednesday on suspicion of graft. He reportedly occupies a single-person cell in a Taipei detention center, its open toilet visible from the door's viewing slot.
"I have urged (Chen) to eat and keep up his strength for his case, but (he) has...gone on a hunger strike," Cheng told reporters outside the jail. He said Chen has been allowed legal counsel but no other visitors.
In Taiwan, criminal suspects can be detained without formal charges on the grounds they pose risks of flight or collusion.
The former president claims the KMT-led government of current President Ma Ying-jeou is engaging in political persecution.
Graft cases surrounding Chen have weakened the opposition Democratic Progressive Party that he once led before it lost in landslide defeats to the KMT in the general and presidential elections held early this year. Chen, 57, stepped down as president May 20 after serving the maximum two terms. Ma and prosecutors deny allegations that Chen's incarceration is politically motivated.
The Supreme Prosecutors Office has been investigating Chen since he left office, allegedly for misusing a secret diplomacy fund while in office and laundering political contributions dating back to 1994. Chen admitted his wife Wu Shu-chen wired abroad some $20 million in campaign contributions, but he has denied breaking any laws or pocketing the money.
Nine people, including a former intelligence chief, vice premier and presidential aide under Chen, have also been detained in connection with his cases.
Prosecutors on Thursday served summonses to Chen's wife and their son Chih-chung, ordering them to report for questioning in the same cases. The former first lady already faces trial, currently on hold for health reasons, for dipping into the same diplomacy fund Chen allegedly misused while he was in office.
Wu has been wheelchair-bound since 1985, when she was run over by a truck in a politically motivated attack while Chen was campaigning for a county-level office.
Chen Chih-chung and his wife Huang, who was also issued a summons Thursday, are under investigation for allegedly helping launder Chen Shui-bian's campaign contributions by moving them to and from a slew of overseas bank accounts.
Adding to the former first family's woes was a decision Thursday by the Taiwan High Court to uphold a seven-year jail term and fine for Chen Shui-bian's son-in-law Chao Chien-min. Local media quoted him as saying he would further appeal to the Supreme Court.
Chao is accused of using his connections to Chen when he was in office to conduct insider trading.