Taipei - Taiwan's ex-president Chen Shui-bian was given a fresh chance for freedom after the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the high court to hold another hearing on his bail request. The Supreme Court said in a statement the reasons given by the Taiwan High Court to continue to hold Chen were insufficient to prove that the ex-president had hidden huge funds abroad, would flee and would threaten witnesses if freed.
Shortly after the ruling, high court spokesman Wen Yao-yuan said the high court would start the hearing in the evening. Chen would be represented by three lawyers he hired in the new hearing and Chen would also show up at the proceeding, Wen said.
The high court denied Chen's bail request on September 24, two weeks after he was sentenced by the Taipei District Court to life in prison for embezzlement, accepting bribes, money laundering, influence peddling and other offences.
The 58-year-old Chen has sternly denied any wrongdoing, saying his trial and guilty conviction were politically motivated by current President Ma Ying-jeou, who wanted to jail him to please Beijing. Chen incurred Chinese wrath during his time in office as he pushed for formal Taiwanese independence.
Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war in 1949. Beijing still considers Taiwan a wayward province that must be brought back to its fold, if necessary by force.
