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TAIPEI : Taiwan's opposition on Saturday called for the immediate release of ex-president Chen Shui-bian while he appeals against his conviction on graft charges.
Chen was sentenced to life in prison on Friday after being convicted of embezzling state funds, laundering money and accepting bribes of around 900 million Taiwan dollars (28 million dollars), the court said.
His wheelchair-bound wife Wu Shu-chen also received a life sentence. The couple were slapped with a combined fine of 500 million Taiwan dollars.
Chen, who stepped down in May last year, insists his trial was a political vendetta for his lifelong push to declare formal independence from China.
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which Chen once led, urged the government to free him immediately.
"It is no longer necessary to detain former president Chen after the verdict. We demand his immediate release to ensure his full legal rights" during the appeal, the party said in a statement.
"There are many flaws and disputes which violated the due process during the first trial, including prolonging his detention and switching the judges," the DPP added. "We hope the mistakes will be checked during the second trial."
Under Taiwanese law, a life sentence is automatically appealed.
Some media and legal scholars reiterated concerns over the handling of Chen's case, particularly the court's decision to lock him up late last year.
Chen was first detained in November before he was formally charged with corruption. He was freed for two weeks in December until the court replaced the judges in his case. Those judges then decided to detain him again.
"The defendant's human and legal rights should be protected to ensure a fair trial, otherwise it raises doubts of a political persecution and a revenge," said the Liberty Times.
"The case is a test to the judicial system," the daily said. "We hope the problems in the first trial will be corrected during the appeal to enhance judicial credibility."
Jerome A. Cohen, a US legal expert and President Ma Ying-jeou's former mentor at Harvard University, also called for the ex-leader's release "on some kind of conditions."
"He's already been there for a long time, it's very hard to defend yourself," Cohen told reporters on Friday ahead of the verdict.
In a poll by the Taipei-based China Times on Saturday, almost 50 percent of the 804 people interviewed said Chen should remain in custody during his appeal while almost a third said he should be freed.
And more than 50 percent said the verdict proved Taiwan's judicial independence while almost 25 percent considered it a political persecution.
The verdict marked the climax of a court drama that has gripped and divided the island's 23 million people since Chen's arrest only six months after leaving office.
The ex-president on Friday boycotted the verdict as hundreds of protesters rallied outside the court and later the detention centre shouting, "A-Bian is innocent" and "Release A-Bian", using his nickname.
Chen has accused his Beijing-friendly successor, Ma Ying-jeou, of mounting a witch hunt against him, a charge Ma has denied.
Taiwan has been governed separately from China since 1949, but Beijing still considers the island as part of its territory and has vowed to take it back, by force if necessary.
- AFP /ls
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