TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian was formally detained Wednesday after a bid by prosecutors to take him into custody was approved by a court, officials said.
"The court has approved prosecutors' request to detain Chen after an overnight hearing," an official at the Taipei district court told AFP.
Chen became the first former Taiwanese president to be formally taken into custody amid a graft scandal that has gripped the island for months.
He was arrested Tuesday on charges of money laundering, embezzling government funds, taking bribes and forging documents, a spokesman for the investigation said.
A defiant Chen put his handcuffed hands in the air as he stepped out of the prosecutor's office and shouted "political persecution" before getting into a waiting car.
The court hearing to decide if prosecutors could detain him had to be suspended late Tuesday as the ex-Taiwan president was taken to hospital saying he was attacked by a court policeman during his arrest and suffered injuries.
The prosecutors flatly rejected Chen's accusation.
The court later resumed the hearing.
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