Ex-president defends himself in libel case over frigate affair
Former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian appeared yesterday at a hearing over a libel charge in his first court date since stepping down as the island's leader.
Trained as a lawyer, the eloquent Mr Chen attempted to prove he had done nothing wrong when commenting about the controversial 1991 La Fayette warship deal.
'When I accepted the television interview on December 1, 2005, what I said about the La Fayette scandal was a sheer description of facts, with solid evidence,' he said.
Mr Chen was summoned for a court appearance on June 16 but did not show up - without giving the court any official notice - prompting judges to threaten to have him brought to court forcibly if he did not show up yesterday.
'From the beginning to the end, I never named any particular person or said anyone had received kickbacks. All I said about the La Fayette deal was make reasonable comments and open questioning,' he said.
Mr Chen, who served two four-year terms as president until he stepped down on May 20, was sued by six retired naval officers for defamation shortly after he claimed in the interview that some people had taken US$20 million in kickbacks in connection with the US$2.8 billion deal to buy six La Fayette class frigates from France.
Mr Chen said after the court hearing yesterday that it was 'absurd for those who claimed they were on the side of righteousness to sue me for libel'.
The military had originally decided to buy Perry class frigates from South Korea in 1989, he said. But suddenly, after former defence minister Hau Pei-tsun went to France in May that year, he called off the Korean deal - and later asked admiral Lei Hsueh-ming to form a six-member ad hoc committee to review the possibility of buying the frigates from France.
The committee recommended that the navy buy the frigates from France, and the deal, closed in 1991, cost triple the market price.
The committee included retired admiral Lei, who brought the libel suit against Mr Chen. One of the other plaintiffs died two years ago.
Two years after Taiwan struck the deal, a scandal followed the death of a navy captain - believed to have been murdered because he intended to reveal the kickbacks behind the deal.
Dozens of angry opponents yesterday shouted at Mr Chen outside the courthouse, calling him corrupt and saying he should be put in jail. One man, identified as Su An-sheng, 65, from the extreme right-wing Patriotic Society, allegedly kicked Mr Chen in the rear end. The suspect was taken away by police for the alleged attack on the former president.
The melee took place after Mr Chen abruptly changed the scheduled route to enter the courthouse. Instead of using an entrance heavily guarded by police, he took another with limited police presence. Mr Chen insisted on standing throughout the two-hour, 40-minute session.
Mr Chen is expected to spend a lot of his time in court in the near future. Besides this suit, he is being sued in two other libel cases, including one brought by former Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan. Mr Chen is also expected to be indicted on charges of embezzling a special state fund. His wife has been involved in a court proceeding in the same case.
