A Taipei court Monday began pretrial proceedings for former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian, who faces corruption charges.

Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen were charged with embezzling 104 million New Taiwan dollars (US$3.15 million) in public funds and accepting bribes of about US$9 million in a land purchase deal.

Chen, who is being detained in a Taipei jail, was summoned to the proceedings at the Taipei District Court, which started at 9:30 a.m. local time (0130GMT).

The three-day process will set the agenda for the trial, which is scheduled in February.

Chen came to power eight years ago and left office in May last year.

Chen has been in custody since Nov. 12.

He was first indicted by prosecutors on Dec. 12 for money laundering and bribery while in office.

The district court decided to release him without bail on Dec. 13 but banned him from leaving the island. Prosecutors appealed his release on Dec. 16, and Taiwan's High Court overruled the decision of the district court. However, it handed the case back to that lower court on Dec. 17.

The next day, the district court upheld its original verdict. The prosecution appealed again and the High Court overruled the lower court decision for a second time on Dec. 28.

Chen was returned to prison on corruption charges following a verdict by the district court on Dec. 30. The verdict allowed him to meet his lawyer and family.

Chen then appealed his detention, but the High Court rejected his appeal on Jan. 7 and ruled that he must remain in jail.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2009)