Ma Ying-jeou, former leader of Taiwan's main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT), pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption on the opening day of his trial in Taipei on Tuesday.

"I will face the charge with a plain and calm attitude. I have confidence in my innocence and put my faith in the justice of the court," said Ma before entering the court in the morning, as a mass of his supporters gathered outside the court and were involved in skirmishes with supporters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Ma said that when he was Taipei mayor, he had been using the government special allowances funds in line with the conventions the Taiwan authorities have followed since 1988 and he had never personally applied for reimbursement from the special funds, according to Taiwan media.

Earlier media reports have said that if Ma is found guilty, more similar cases will follow because Ma has acted as some 65,000 other government chiefs have done.

Special allowance funds are allocated by the Taiwan authorities to the executive officers at various levels in Taiwan. Official receipts are only required for half of the special allowance funds, while the spending of the other half only requires the signature of the official.

There have been no clear regulations concerning the expenditure of the government special allowances. Last month, Tainan mayor Tsu Tain-tsair, a member of the ruling DPP, was acquitted after being found to be involved in a similar case.

Taiwan prosecutors indicted Ma on charges of corruption on Feb. 13, accusing him of diverting 11 million New Taiwan dollars (333,000 U.S. dollars) from Taipei mayor's special allowance funds to his private account during his tenure as Taipei mayor.

Ma resigned as KMT chairman after the indictment but immediately declared for the first time that he would run for the 2008 Taiwan leader election.

Taiwan prosecutors have also indicted Yu Wen, former secretary of the Taipei mayor's office, on charges of forgery and corruption.

Source: Xinhua