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There's not enough evidence to charge her, say prosecutors; four others indicted

Taiwanese prosecutors say there is insufficient evidence to charge President Chen Shui-bian's  wife with influence peddling.

The decision gave the scandal-plagued president some relief yesterday as hundreds of opponents protested in his southern home town of Tainan, demanding he step down.

Tension flared last night and hundreds of riot police kept  pro-Chen and anti-Chen groups separate in Tainan after earlier clashes between the two camps.

At a news conference earlier yesterday, Lin Chin-tsun,  chief prosecutor of the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, said Wu Shu-chen would not be charged over allegations she accepted NT$5 million (HK$1.18 million) in Pacific Sogo Department Store gift vouchers in exchange for lobbying favours.

'There is not enough evidence proving that she was involved in the Sogo case,' Mr Lin said, referring to the ownership fight for the store, won by Far Eastern Textile chairman Douglas Hsu Shu-tung.

He said that although Ms Wu was found to have accepted some of the vouchers, they were given to her by her family doctor, Huang Fang-yen,  as a gift, rather than given to her directly by anyone involved in the battle for the store.

Mr Lin said that since Ms Wu was not a government employee, an investigation on the grounds of corruption was not warranted. Her alleged involvement in the Sogo case had been cleared up and no further investigation of the case involving her would be necessary.

But prosecutors will be seeking a 30-month prison sentence for Mr Hsu for breach of trust. They will also seek jail sentences - from two years to 31/2 years - for three other businessmen for falsification of documents and breach of trust.

The Presidential Office took heart from the conclusion reached by the prosecutors. It released a statement almost immediately saying it respected their decision.

Mr Chen, who has been under intense pressure to step down over corruption allegations levelled at him, his family and government, had vowed to quit if his wife was involved in the case. He made the pledge shortly after opposition Kuomintang legislator Lee Chuan-chiao claimed in April that his wife had accepted the vouchers.

In June, Mr Chen revised his wording, saying he would quit if his wife had 'directly' received vouchers from any of the four businessmen involved in the Sogo fight.

Mr Chen is himself implicated in the alleged embezzlement of NT$36 million in state funds.

He has admitted wrongly using receipts when accounting for part of the state funds. An aide even admitted yesterday in a session of the legislature that some of the receipts used were for purchases of children's books and watches, but insisted that the actual spending was for secret diplomatic missions.

In Tainan, meanwhile, hundreds of protesters on a round-the-island tour arrived at the president's home town to be confronted by a huge crowd of Chen supporters.

Police had denied the anti-Chen protesters - led by Shih Ming-teh,  former chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party -  a permit to stage a rally for fear it would spark violence.

The protesters were allowed only to disembark from their buses and stage a brief road-side sit-in. Police used barbed-wire barricades to separate them from Chen supporters. The protesters cancelled a plan to go to a night market, instead opting to retire early and spend the night at a temple outside town.

Clashes between the two camps had broken out in Chiayi before the protesters left for Tainan.



Chen's wife cleared in voucher scandal