Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's wife pleaded innocent to corruption charges as a trial that could eventually force Chen from office got under way on Friday.

A crowd of supporters and detractors looked on as Wu Shu-chen, who is paralysed from the waist down following an accident in 1985, arrived at the Taipei District Court for the hearing of a case that has gripped the island.

Wu's indictment has hurt Chen's image and hobbled his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which was formed 20 years ago.

Chen, who has weathered mass street protests and efforts by the opposition in "parliament" to oust him, said last month he would resign if his wife was found guilty in the case.

Wu's legal team entered an innocent plea before a three-judge panel at the start of the trial.

A television report said she later fainted in the courthouse. She was then rushed out of the building in her wheelchair, whisked into an ambulance and driven away.

Wrangling Over Receipts

Wu was charged last month with embezzlement and receipt forgery stemming from her alleged misuse of T$14.8 million ($454,000) from a special government fund.

During the proceeding, prosecutor Chang Hsi-huai accused Wu and three others of giving false information regarding expenses.

"They abused the fairness of the legal system," he said. "What they said was all false."

The trial went ahead despite an attempt by the DPP to delay the proceeding.

One defendant, Chen Shui-bian's former aide Ma Yung-cheng, said he thought everything he had done was legal because accountants didn't object to any of the expenses at the center of his case.

"If the accounting unit thinks that it's not appropriate, they can send it back," said Ma, speaking in his own defense. "These 12 receipts were not sent back so I assumed they were legal, no problem."

A prosecutor said in November that he also had enough evidence to indict Chen for corruption if his status as the island's leader did not make him immune. Chen has said the money in question was used for legitimate government business.