Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has had a stroke and has a serious mental disorder, a group of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and medical experts said yesterday, renewing calls for Chen to be released from prison for medical treatment and the immediate inclusion of a psychiatrist on Chen’s medical team.

“Judging from Chen’s declining condition and the obvious fact that the Taipei Prison had been dealing with his health carelessly, we think that a release for medical treatment is a necessity,” DPP Legislator Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) told a press conference.