By William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON

A US senator has asked Christopher Marut, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), to visit former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in jail or hospital.

Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, said in a letter sent this week to Marut that Chen is suffering from severe depression and is undergoing psychiatric treatment at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

It is an obvious attempt by Brown to draw more attention to Chen’s case and increase the pressure on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to grant medical parole for Chen, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption.

“Reduced to a shadow of his former fiery self, Chen stutters and slurs his speech, and cannot walk far without tripping over,” The Economist magazine reported earlier this month.

“The prison’s harsh standard of treatment, which falls well below international norms, is contributing to serious illness,” the magazine said.

Chen’s continued incarceration, The Economist said, was not only undermining Ma’s “now dangerously low popularity,” but also faith in Taiwan’s system of justice.

“As advocates for human rights, freedom, democracy and the rule of law around the world, it is critical that we continue to support Taiwan,” Brown wrote to Marut.

Brown urged Marut to read a recent independent medical report that details Chen’s failing health and concludes that “in any democracy” this would be sufficient cause for immediate medical parole on humanitarian grounds.

“I ask that you review the report and visit the former president at the appropriate time,” the letter said.

“Senator Brown is a friend of president Chen, whom he has met on multiple occasions in Taiwan over the past decade,” Formosa Association of Public Affairs president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said. “It is touching to see a US senator ... reach out across the globe to a friend in need.”

2012-10-26

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Letter from Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown
to AIT Director Christopher Marut

 

美參議員籲馬啟思探扁

曹郁芬 2012/10/27

美國民主黨參議員布朗廿三日致函給「美國在台協會」處長馬啟思，呼籲他前往台北監獄或榮總醫院探視台灣前總統陳水扁。

布朗在信中表示，陳水扁罹患重度憂鬱症，目前在台北榮民總醫院接受心理治療。不久前，一個曾前往台北監獄探視陳水扁的私人醫療團，曾撰寫了一份報告，評估了長期囚禁對陳水扁身心狀況的影響。

布朗向馬啟思表示：「近日來，台灣媒體曾報導您有意願探視陳前總統。我請求您參閱該報告，並選擇適當時機探視陳前總統。」

這份報告是由前加州大學戴維斯分校教授林文約博士，與該校醫學中心米田謙及威特康醫師所組成的醫療團撰寫，已列入美國國會紀錄。美國眾議員柏頓日前也曾致函給台灣總統馬英九，要求他站在人道立場讓陳水扁保外就醫。

自由時報 〔駐美特派員曹郁芬／華府廿五日報導〕