Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian is handcuffed by prosecutors.

Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian was formally detained Wednesday for allegedly being involved in overseas money laundering and corruption.

Taipei District Court made the decision after a hearing which took place on Tuesday.

After a six hour interrogation, the court said Chen would not be allowed visitors during detention. The court wanted to prevent him from colluding with other suspects so they wouldn't make identical confessions.

A judge with the court said Chen committed several crimes, each of which deserved at least a five-year imprisonment. Chen was then escorted to a lockup in Taipei becoming the first ex-leader to be detained in the history of the Taiwan authority.

Chen Shui-bian was summoned to court Tuesday by a special prosecuting team. This was his fifth hearing in the past six months on allegations of laundering money and misusing a special fund during his eight-year administration which ended in May.

Chen said in the hearing, he had been beaten during interrogation by prosecutors. He was then sent to the hospital for an examination. He returned to the court around midnight. Authorities will not say whether Chen was actually injured.

So far prosecutors have interrogated 15 suspects involved in Chen's case, including his wife, son, daughter-in-law, assistants and friends. Eight of them are in custody.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2008)