Authorities in Taiwan on Monday released on parole the island's former president Chen Shui-bian, who is serving a 20-year jail term for corruption, to seek treatment for depression and a neurodegenerative disorder.
Chen, who has previously attempted suicide in prison, left Taichung Prison in central Taiwan at around 3:30 p.m. local time after being granted medical parole and posting NT$2 million (U.S. $62,500) in bail.
"Former President Chen's neurodegenerative condition has deteriorated, and this deterioration is simultaneously present in a number of different brain areas," justice ministry official Chen Ming-tang told reporters on Monday.
"This shows that the effectiveness of his current treatment is limited, and ... that this is most likely due to the fact that there is no way to alleviate the mental pressure on former president Chen in the [prison] environment," he said.
Chen, a former firebrand lawmaker, mayor and chairman of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was met outside the prison by his former vice-president Annette Lu, who was taken to hospital at the beginning of the year after she staged an 81-hour hunger strike to call for his release.
According to Taiwan justice and prison officials, Chen has also been diagnosed with sleep apnea and judged to be a suicide risk as a result of depression.
Chen emerged from prison on Monday in a wheelchair and holding a cane, to be greeted by a few dozen supporters.
He left by car with his son Chen Chih-chung under police escort after waving briefly to his supporters after his parole was approved last week by a 15-member team of medical experts, who advised him to seek medical treatment outside prison.
However, officials indicated he will be returned to jail, should his condition improve.
Chen's parole is limited to one month, renewable following further meetings and medical checks, Chen Ming-tang said.
Corruption conviction
Chen was found in July 2013 in the bathroom attached to his cell, after apparently having tried to commit suicide by hanging himself from the shower fittings, justice ministry officials said at the time.
The former president was indicted on charges of transferring political campaign funds to overseas bank accounts only after he stepped down at the end of his second term in 2008.
Investigators told his trial they found more than U.S. $30 million that Chen sent to accounts in Singapore, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland to buy property.
He had previously served jail time as a political prisoner during martial law rule under the Kuomintang (KMT) Nationalist party, and also survived a 2004 assassination attempt during his campaign for re-election.
After being grazed by a bullet from a homemade gun, Chen went on to win a narrow second-term victory. The KMT accused Chen's campaign of staging the attack in order to win crucial votes.
Chen was the first opposition party president in the island's history, and raised hackles in Beijing with his aggressive pursuit of greater formal autonomy for Taiwan, including a bid for recognition at the United Nations.
China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists on the mainland.
Reported by Lee Tung for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Chung Kuang-cheng for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.