TAIPEI: Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian has appealed the guilty verdict and life sentence for graft handed down in Taipei court last week, his office said yesterday.

The Taipei District Court convicted Chen on six charges related to corruption and bribery, closing a fractious, high-profile case that opened nearly three years ago. Chen also was fined NT$200 million ($8.55 million) as the trial concluded last Friday.

Chen insisted throughout that the charges were politically motivated and he denied wrongdoing. "The high court's handling of the case must be fair, impartial and transparent," Chen's foundation said in statement announcing the appeal.

The case could affect support for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which backed Chen when he was in office and faces tough local elections at the end of the year. Chen left the DPP last year.

Prosecutors had charged Chen with embezzling NT$104 million from a special "presidential office" fund, accepting bribes of about $9 million related to a land procurement deal and taking another $2.73 million in kickbacks to help a contractor win its bid for a government project.

Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, was convicted on seven counts of graft and also sentenced to life in jail. She was fined NT$300 million. Chen's son and daughter-in-law were handed sentences ranging from 20-30 months for related crimes.

REUTERS

(HK Edition 09/15/2009 page2)