Jailed former Taiwan leader faces new charge

TAIPEI - Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian faces a new charge of illegal possession of classified documents.

Chen, already jailed for corruption, was charged on Monday of taking away with him classified documents when he left his post as the island's leader, according to the special investigation division under the island's prosecutors office.

Investigators of the special investigation division seized more than 1,300 pieces of documents with sensitive contents at Chen's office in September 2008, while investigating him on graft charges.

In 2010, the Taiwan leader's office notified the prosecutors office about documents taken away by Chen, which led to a new raid on Chen's  office, where 688 pieces of documents, including classified files, were seized, according to the special investigation division.

Chen was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for corruption and money laundering during his tenure as the leader of Taiwan from 2000 to 2008. Chen began serving his sentence in December 2010.