The wife of Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian on Friday asked to
extend her leave from her trial on charges of graft, the fourth
time she's been absent since fainting in court in December.
The fifth session of the high-profile trail opened in Taipei on
Friday morning. Wu Shu-chen is accused of claiming personal
expenses, mainly the purchase of brand-name clothes and jewelry,
from special government funds controlled by her husband.
The allegations involve goods valued at more than 14.8 million
New Taiwan dollars (US$ 448,500).
After fainting during the first session of her trial she was
hospitalized and missed her next three court dates.
At Friday's session, Chen's key aide, Chen Tan-sun, and four
other officials were fined 30,000 New Taiwan dollars each for
failing to show up in court. They had been called to give
evidence.
The court also rejected a prosecution request to search Chen
Shui-bian's office, but ordered his office to release the
controversial "secret documents" by Jan. 23, local media
reported.
Chen was given till Monday to appeal the court order.
Prosecutors have been lobbying hard to be granted the right to
search documents in Chen Shui-bian's office. Chen has argued the
money came from a fund that was used for "secret diplomacy", and
documents relating to the fund should be excluded from court
proceedings for diplomatic reasons.
(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2007)