Former president Chen Shui-bian’s office yesterday dismissed a report that his daughter Chen Hsing-yu had attempted suicide last month after learning about a court order barring her from leaving the country.
The travel ban was imposed after she was questioned by prosecutors on June 22 about allegations of perjury. She had planned on traveling to the US to study.
The latest edition of the Chinese-language China Times Weekly said Chen Hsing-yu swallowed sleeping pills after learning about the court order. Her mother Wu Shu-jen and her husband, Chao Chien-ming, called doctors to the house to give her emergency treatment, the magazine said.
Chiang Chih-ming, Chen Shui-bian’s secretary, denied the report and said Chen Hsing-yu had not tried to commit suicide.
Chen Hsing-yu had filed a petition with the Taipei District Prosecutors Office appealing for a lifting of the overseas travel ban. Prosecutors rejected the appeal on June 30 on the grounds that she was required to stay in Taiwan to ensure the smooth progress of the investigation into alleged corruption by her parents, as well as to the perjury she has admitted to.
Asked to comment on the magazine story, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei said she was skeptical about the report.
Lo said she sympathized with Chen Hsing-yu for losing her temper when approached by reporters but said Chen Hsing-yu should blame her father for causing her “tragedy.”
Chen Shui-bian, his wife, son Chen Chih-chung, daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching and 10 former presidential aides, associates and family members have been indicted by prosecutors on a range of charges, including money laundering, corruption and forgery.
Meanwhile, Wu was discharged from the Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital yesterday, one day after being hospitalized for low blood pressure.
Hospital vice superintendent Liu Chiung-kuan said Wu has suffered bleeding caused by severe constipation that triggered the low blood pressure.
Chen Chih-chung said his mother’s condition had stabilized and she wanted to return home as soon as possible even though the hospital wanted her to stay longer. The hospital later agreed to discharge her.
Wu was paralyzed from the waist down after being hit by a truck in an alleged assassination attempt in 1985 and has had to use a wheelchair since then.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG AND CNA
Source: Taipei Times 2009/07/11
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