Taipei (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Chen Shui-bian, the former president of Taiwan in prison for bribery, attempted suicide yesterday. The news was reported by the Ministry of Justice. Chen apparently tried to hang himself in the bathroom of his cell with three towels. An officer found him lying on the floor in a daze. The man is now recovering in a hospital in Taipei for tests.
According to the prison authorities,
the head of state is suffering from a
severe depression and in recent months
had repeatedly confessed
to his psychologist that he
wanted to kill himself. In August 2012 he underwent
surgery on his arteries. At that
time the doctors diagnosed him
with prostate cancer.
Historical leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwanese President for two terms (2000-2008), Chen Shui-bian has always pursued
a policy against Beijing. With
his party, for 8 years, he
tried to distance his nation from mainland China from both a social and economic perspective.
After the electoral defeat in favor of the Kuomintang candidate - Ma Ying-jeou, the current president of the island - he was
involved in a case of very
doubtful bribes and sentenced
along with his wife Wu Shu-chen to 19 years in
prison. In recent years, he has
repeatedly claimed that he was the victim of a political plot and was abandoned
by the DPP.