Publicité
US experts join Taiwan probe on Chen shooting
Par
Partager cet article
US experts join Taiwan probe on Chen shooting
Three US forensic experts yesterday joined an investigation into the attempted assassination of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian in a move by the government to respond to opposition party demands for an independent inquiry.
The president was gashed across the abdomen when he was shot on March 19, the final day of campaigning before a presidential election. Chen won re-election by a slim 0.2 percent margin, an outcome his opponent Lien Chan attributes to a sympathy vote.
The opposition Nationalist camp has raised suspicions that the shooting was staged and called for an independent inquiry.
?We?re here to examine all of the physical evidence that is made available to us,? Cyril Wecht, a coroner, told reporters.
?This case, because it is the president and vice president and because of the national election, we understand the significance of its critical nature,? he said.
Chen and Vice President Annette Lu, riding in an open-top jeep in southern Tainan city, were shot with two bullets believed to have been fired from the same homemade gun. Chen was slightly wounded in the abdomen and Lu in the right knee.
Taiwan?s top prosecutor also invited ballistics expert Michael Haag and crime scene specialist Timothy Palmbach to join the team at the Criminal Investigation Bureau, police said.
The three will view evidence and the crime scene in southern Tainan city later in the day and will return to the United States on Tuesday to study the data.
They were recommended by forensic scientist Henry Lee, a former Taipei police captain who will join the investigation in mid-April after attending a conference in New Zealand, police said.
Lee, head of a forensic science institute in Connecticut in the United States, has assisted in numerous US investigations including the O.J. Simpson murder trial and the 1993 suicide of White House counsel Vincent Foster.
In addition to demanding an independent investigation into the shooting, Nationalist leader Lien will file two lawsuits to nullify the presidential election and demand a recount.
Chen, Lu and their security guards at first thought they had been hit by celebratory firecrackers and did not immediately realise the president and vice president had been shot.
Lien to challenge presidential vote</B>
Taiwan police are seeking a balding man in a yellow jacket and blue trousers, who was seen on a security camera running from the scene of the assassination attempt into an alley within minutes of the shooting.
Investigators are also focusing on underground factories that make homemade guns for use by the Taiwan underworld by altering the firing mechanisms of toy replicas.
Taiwan?s defeated presidential candidate, Lien Chan, was expected to file lawsuits on Monday to contest the hotly disputed election, paving the way for a full recount that could ease a bitter political crisis.
President Chen Shui-bian narrowly defeated his Nationalist opponent by just 30,000 votes out of more than 13 million cast in the March 20 poll. An election-eve assassination attempt lightly wounded Chen and, Lien says, created a significant sympathy vote.
After Lien led half a million supporters in a protest outside the presidential palace on Saturday, Chen said he would agree to a judicial recount and accept the outcome. He has asked Lien to formally contest the election in court.
Lien?s lawyers plan to file two invalidation lawsuits with the high court, which could lead to a recount and possibly a new election if sufficient evidence is provided.
The first seeks to nullify the election and the other to nullify Chen?s victory. A recount is seen as the more likely outcome and the Nationalists hope it could be held as early as Tuesday.
?The cases, once submitted, will get the highest priority,? said a spokeswoman for the High Court. ?But it will be up the judges to decide when a recount will be held.?
Chen has said he would immediately issue a letter of consent to agree to a complete recount in order to speed up the legal process, raising hopes the political crisis that has paralysed one of Asia?s most vibrant economies could soon be resolved.
Taiwan newspapers said the opposition lawsuits would also ask the court to clarify doubts surrounding the election-eve shooting and to rule whether a decision to activate the national security mechanism had affected the election outcome.
Lien says some 200,000 soldiers and police ? many his supporters ? were unable to vote after the national security mechanism was activated. Chen says the move did not lead to any increase in military deployment.
Publicité
Publicité
Les plus récents
