An all-volunteer civilian medical team looking after former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who has been diagnosed as having a degenerative brain disease, yesterday called on the authorities to parole Chen and allow him to be reunited with his family for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Members of the medical team, which includes National Taiwan University Hospital physician and aspirant for Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and doctors Kuo Cheng-deng (郭正典) and Janice Chen (陳昭姿), made the call at a press conference held in Taipei yesterday, along with the former president’s attorney, Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), and his son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中).