A Taiwan district court Thursday upheld its earlier ruling in favour of releasing scandal-tainted former president Chen Shui-bian from pre-trial detention, according to dpa. "The panel of judges believed that the defendant is unlikely to flee Taiwan and therefore maintained the earlier ruling in favour of his release, pending trial in the future," said the Taipei District Court in a statement released late Thursday. The court reviewed the case at the order of the Taiwan High Court following a recent appeal by prosecutors who sought to place 58-year- old Chen back in custody. It said the prosecutors did not have enough evidence to show that Chen would run away if freed, and that it is a violation of human rights to continue to detain him after he was officially charged. Chen, who had been detained since November 12 on suspicion of corruption, was freed without bail by the Taipei District Court after he was indicted by prosecutors Friday on charges of embezzlement and money laundering. During Thursday's hearing, the prosecutors argued that that if freed, Chen could collude with others to tamper with evidence and threaten to expose any wrongdoings of some witnesses if they testified against him. They said Chen was implicated in several other alleged bribery cases and embezzlement of secret diplomatic funds, and he could tamper with evidence if not placed in custody. Chen told the district court Thursday he would remain in Taiwan, and would appear in any court hearing when summoned. The district court ordered that he refrain from harassing any witnesses and using his influence to incite his supporters from disrupting court proceedings in the future. Chen, a two-time president between 2000 and 2008, has claimed the prosecution was politically motivated because his successor Ma Ying- jeou of the China-friendly Nationalist Party wants to placate Beijing. Chen has advocated an independent Taiwan, a status China has repeatedly warned would lead to a cross-strait war. Despite a split at the end of a civil war in 1949, Beijing considers Taiwan an integral part of China that must be brought back to its fold, if necessary by force.
