'We have decided to reduce the sentences against the defendants because they had made guilty pleas during the district court trial,' a High Court spokesman said. The defendants are still allowed to appeal the sentences to the Supreme Court.

Wu was found guilty of perjury for lying about how she and the former president used special state funds allotted for spending by the president for public and official functions. She was also found guilty of instructing the other three to make false statements over how she and her husband accounted for the funding claims.

During the trial on September 1, Wu and the three pleaded guilty, allowing the court to use their pleas as evidence against Chen in his embezzlement trial. Chen was indicted in late 2008 on charges of embezzling NT$104 million in special funds, along with Wu, while he was president from 2000 to 2008. The two were also charged with accepting NT$400 million in bribes, laundering at least NT$1.3 billion in funds abroad, forging documents, influence peddling and other offences.

On September 11, Chen and Wu were found guilty of those corruption charges and sentenced to life in prison. They are appealing against the verdict at the High Court.

Wu's lawyer, Lin Chih-chung, said yesterday that Wu found the latest ruling 'somewhat disappointing' because she was hoping that the High Court would suspend the sentences because they had pleaded guilty. Courts usually offer suspended sentences to those given three-month prison terms. Those given such light sentences would be allowed to serve their terms by doing labour or community service.

Also, the district prosecutors in Taipei said they had filed fresh charges of perjury against Chen on Tuesday for instructing his aides to give false statements to prosecutors during questioning in 2006 over how Chen accounted for the use of funds.

Chen has been at the Taipei Detention Centre since December 2008. His office yesterday urged the public to write to President Ma Ying-jeou, asking him to free Chen.