http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com...medical-parole-for-imprisoned-ex-leader/?_r=0
<header class="postHeader">[h=1]Taiwan Approves Medical Parole for Imprisoned Ex-Leader[/h] <address class="byline author vcard" itemprop="author creator" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> By Austin Ramzy </address> <time class="dateline" datetime="2015-01-05T05:28:51+00:00">January 5, 2015 12:28 am</time> January 5, 2015 12:28 am
</header>
Chen Shui-bian, the imprisoned former president of Taiwan, was expected to be released on medical parole on Monday, after Justice Ministry officials accepted the recommendation of a panel of medical experts that his failing health could be better treated at home.
<figure class="media photo promo" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/01/05/world/05sino-chen01/05sino-chen01-articleInline.jpg" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group">Photo
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="description">Chen Shui-bian in 2011.Credit Liu Hsin-Teh/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
Taiwan’s law allows for medical parole if suitable treatment cannot be received in prison. The terms of Mr. Chen’s parole call for his condition to be re-examined after a month and could see him return to prison if his health improves.
Mr. Chen, who broke the Nationalist Party’s long grip on power when he won the presidency in 2000, was prosecuted for corruption after leaving office in 2008. He was convicted of embezzlement and taking bribes in 2009 and sentenced to life in prison, which was later reduced to a 20-year prison term. His wife, Wu Shu-chen, was granted medical parole in 2011, after she was also convicted of corruption charges.
Mr. Chen argued that he and his wife were persecuted for his criticism of China and advocacy of Taiwan’s independence.
In prison Mr. Chen suffered from a series of medical conditions including depression, brain atrophy and Parkinsonism. People who visited him in detention said his condition had declined noticeably in recent years, with both his physical strength and speaking ability degenerating. In 2013, he tried to hang himself, but was found by a guard who stopped the suicide attempt.
Amid criticism of his treatment in detention, corrections officials moved Mr. Chen to a larger “garden-style medical treatment quarter” in prison, but said for years that his condition didn’t warrant serving out his sentence at home.
Mr. Chen’s supporters, who angrily protest his detention and conviction, had been calling for his release for years. The campaign for his medical parole picked up momentum in recent months as Mr. Chen’s political allies scored major gains in local elections in November and high-profile supporters campaigned for his cause.
The newly elected mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-je, visited Mr. Chen in prison and has frequently raised his case. Annette Lu, who served as vice president under Mr. Chen, held an 81-hour hunger strike last week to campaign for his release.
Ms. Lu and others had pushed for Mr. Chen to be released before New Year’s Day after the panel of medical experts recommended his parole last week. The Justice Ministry said it hadn’t received the recommendation in time because bad traffic slowed the delivery of the report, an explanation widely criticized by Mr. Chen’s supporters.
<header class="postHeader">[h=1]Taiwan Approves Medical Parole for Imprisoned Ex-Leader[/h] <address class="byline author vcard" itemprop="author creator" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> By Austin Ramzy </address> <time class="dateline" datetime="2015-01-05T05:28:51+00:00">January 5, 2015 12:28 am</time> January 5, 2015 12:28 am
</header>
Chen Shui-bian, the imprisoned former president of Taiwan, was expected to be released on medical parole on Monday, after Justice Ministry officials accepted the recommendation of a panel of medical experts that his failing health could be better treated at home.
<figure class="media photo promo" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/01/05/world/05sino-chen01/05sino-chen01-articleInline.jpg" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group">Photo
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="description">Chen Shui-bian in 2011.Credit Liu Hsin-Teh/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
Taiwan’s law allows for medical parole if suitable treatment cannot be received in prison. The terms of Mr. Chen’s parole call for his condition to be re-examined after a month and could see him return to prison if his health improves.
Mr. Chen, who broke the Nationalist Party’s long grip on power when he won the presidency in 2000, was prosecuted for corruption after leaving office in 2008. He was convicted of embezzlement and taking bribes in 2009 and sentenced to life in prison, which was later reduced to a 20-year prison term. His wife, Wu Shu-chen, was granted medical parole in 2011, after she was also convicted of corruption charges.
Mr. Chen argued that he and his wife were persecuted for his criticism of China and advocacy of Taiwan’s independence.
In prison Mr. Chen suffered from a series of medical conditions including depression, brain atrophy and Parkinsonism. People who visited him in detention said his condition had declined noticeably in recent years, with both his physical strength and speaking ability degenerating. In 2013, he tried to hang himself, but was found by a guard who stopped the suicide attempt.
Amid criticism of his treatment in detention, corrections officials moved Mr. Chen to a larger “garden-style medical treatment quarter” in prison, but said for years that his condition didn’t warrant serving out his sentence at home.
Mr. Chen’s supporters, who angrily protest his detention and conviction, had been calling for his release for years. The campaign for his medical parole picked up momentum in recent months as Mr. Chen’s political allies scored major gains in local elections in November and high-profile supporters campaigned for his cause.
The newly elected mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-je, visited Mr. Chen in prison and has frequently raised his case. Annette Lu, who served as vice president under Mr. Chen, held an 81-hour hunger strike last week to campaign for his release.
Ms. Lu and others had pushed for Mr. Chen to be released before New Year’s Day after the panel of medical experts recommended his parole last week. The Justice Ministry said it hadn’t received the recommendation in time because bad traffic slowed the delivery of the report, an explanation widely criticized by Mr. Chen’s supporters.
