Christian baseball player acquitted; seeks justice

From "Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>
Date Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:41:17 +0800

3067 Edition

December, 6~12, 2010

Headline News



Christian baseball player acquitted; seeks justice 



Reported by Sam Lee

Written by Lydia Ma



Former professional baseball league player and Christian Charlie Chen 
from LaNew Bears, a professional baseball team in the Chinese 
Professional Baseball League, was recently acquitted of any 
involvement with a match-fixing scandal that made headlines in Taiwan 
months ago. 



This match-fixing scandal was linked to a gambling group and the 
prosecutor originally determined that Chen, being a member of the 
team, was guilty of deception and gambling like the rest of his 
teammates.



Though Chen had repeatedly maintained his innocence, he was still 
charged. He was recently found “not guilty” in the case's trial of 
first instance at Banciao District Court on November 26, 2010. 



During an interview, Chen said he appreciated the outpouring of 
support from Christians during his darkest moments - especially when 
he lost his job upon being charged for a crime he didn’t commit. 



But despite his exoneration, he has yet to be approached by his 
baseball team or reinstated by the baseball league. He is still 
fighting for his right to return to the baseball field as a 
professional player.



Now officially declared innocent, Chen said he could sympathize with 
LaNew Bear’s reactions when he was charged. But since he has now been 
declared innocent, he is asking the team to "give back to him what is 
rightfully his", particularly his work and reputation.

 

********************

Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages. 

You may translate and re-use our articles online only if you 
acknowledge the source as "Taiwan Church News" and list the names of 
the reporter and writer. Contact us before reprinting any of our 
articles for print publications. 

Direct comments and questions about this article to: 
enews@pctpress.org

Visit our website for more news at: http://enews.pctpress.org/ 
(English) or http://www.pctpress.org (Chinese) 

********************