Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian on Wednesday asked a court to release him from the jail where he has been held in custody since December on corruption charges, according to dpa. "I was once a president and now I am placed in a humble cell so humid that even my suits rot," he told the court during the second day of his pre-trial hearing. Chen said it was a violation of his human rights to continue to hold him behind bars since being charged in mid-December on corruption charges - to which he has pleaded not guilty. A formal trial is not expected for several weeks, possibly months. Chen is charged with taking some 1.5 billion Taiwan dollars (44 million US dollars) - including one bribe of 9 million US dollars in a land deal - and embezzling special state funds during his time as president between 2000 and 2008. He was brought before court in handcuffs and amid tight security for the second day of a three-day hearing which began on Tuesday. His three lawyers on Wednesday took turns to query the credibility and liability of 146 pieces of evidence used by prosecutors to charge him. Chen himself later spent two hours delivering his opinion on the proceedings. He spent most of the time criticizing the prosecutors for bringing charges against him whilst sparing political figures from the ruling Nationalist Party or Kuomintang, which he claimed were also involved in corruption allegations. He again rejected all charges against him, though his wife, Wu Shu-chen, has confessed in a pre-trial hearing on February 10 she had accepted part of the 9 million US dollars. Wu, charged along with Chen with the same crimes, said she thought the fund she received was political contribution not a bribe. In a February 10 hearing, Wu also pleaded guilty to money laundering charges, as has her son, daughter-in-law, brother and sister-in-law. Wu confessed that she used her relatives as proxies to wire at least 2.2 million US dollars abroad, but stressed the funds were political donations. Prosecutors, however, said Wu had wired more than 37 million US dollars abroad, and most of the funds came from illegal sources. So far, 10 of the 14 defendants in the case have pleaded guilty to money laundering. Chen's former chief treasurer has also admitted to corruption. A formal trial will only be held after the completion of the pretrial hearings, which could last for weeks or even months, court sources said.
