Taipei  - A frail former Taiwan's president Chen Shui-bian appeared in a Taiwan court for pretrial hearings on corruption allegations.

Chen, who ended a three-day hunger strike to protest against what he claimed was political persecution and injustice, was brought to court in handcuffs from the Taipei Detention Centre, where he has been jailed since late December.

When asked how he felt, he told Taipei District Court Judge Tsai Shou-hsun that he felt weak and uncomfortable.

In the first day of the three-day pretrial hearings, the court was to question Chen's alleged role in a bribery case, in which he was charged with accepting bribes from a businessman over a land purchase deal. (dpa)