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TAIPEI - The trial of Taiwan Vice-President Annette Lu on corruption and forgery charges for allegedly misusing an expense account opened Monday in the latest high-profile case involving leading politicians.
Lu was accused of claiming 5.6 million Taiwan dollars (174,000 US) in special expenses using more than 1,000 false receipts from December 2000 to May 2006.
Before stepping into the courtroom, Lu insisted on her innocence, saying she acted the same way as 6,500 other government chiefs entitled to special expenses.
"The judicial system remains divided in the way how the expenses should be claimed," she told reporters. "There is no reason to ask me, one individual, to bear the burden."
Lu, vice-president since 2000, is a 63-year-old former political prisoner and human rights advocate. She briefly stood for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nomination in the 2008 presidential race, but withdrew early in the process.
Two other leading members of the ruling DPP: party chairman Yu Shyi-kun, a former premier, and former foreign minister Chen Tan-sun, were also indicted on corruption and forgery charges together with Lu in September.
Their trials are yet to be scheduled. If convicted of corruption, they face a minimum of seven years in prison. The forgery charge is punishable by up to seven years in jail.
Frank Hsieh, DPP's presidential candidate and his running mate Su Tseng-chang, also a former premier, were cleared of corruption charges in September as their expenses were found to be legitimate.
Opposition leader and presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou was also indicted on the same special expense graft in February but the Taipei district court found him innocent in August. The high court is hearing Ma's case after prosecutors' appeal.
The biggest of the corruption scandals that have rattled Taiwan involves the president's wife, Wu Shu-chen, who is on trial for corruption and forgery after allegedly embezzling 14.8 million dollars from state coffers.
The president was named as a suspect in the case, but escaped immediate prosecution because he enjoys presidential immunity. - AFP/ir
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