Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Lee to miss court date

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will miss a court date for oral arguments scheduled for today over his indictment on charges of embezzling state funds because he is still recovering from a vertebral artery stenting procedure performed on July 12, Lee’s office said yesterday. Lee is still suffering from fever for unknown reasons and has not been released by Taipei Veterans General Hospital although the surgery was a success, office director Wang Yan-chun (王燕軍) said in a press release. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division on June 30, 2011, indicted the 90-year-old and his aide, Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), accusing the pair of siphoning off US$7.8 million from secret diplomatic funds to establish the Taiwan Research Institute.