TAIPEI: A Taiwan court was set Friday to pass its verdict on former president Chen Shui-bian in a graft case that could see him jailed for life, but he intended to boycott the trial in a show of defiance.

The Taipei district court said early Friday it had given Chen permission not to turn up at the court, meaning he would remain at his detention centre on the outskirts of the capital at the time of the verdict, which was due 0800 GMT.

"Chen made the request to be excused ... and the judges decided to grant it," a court spokesman told reporters.

The ex-president intended to use the no-show to protest against what he considers an "illegal and invalid" ruling, his former lawyer Cheng Wen-lung told AFP earlier.

Chen, who stepped down in May 2008 after serving two four-year terms, is accused of embezzlement, money laundering, accepting bribes, influence peddling and forgery in a sprawling case that has gripped the island for months.

The case involves a total of about 25 million US dollars, and legal experts have said Chen could be sentenced to life in jail if convicted.

Chen himself has said the case is a political vendetta and an act of revenge after he used his time in power seeking more formal Taiwan independence from China.

He has said that his Beijing-friendly successor Ma Ying-jeou is behind the alleged witch-hunt, but Ma has denied the charge.

Taiwan has been governed separately from China since 1949, but Beijing still considers it part of its territory and has vowed to take it back, by force if necessary.

The Taipei court was expected to also read out verdicts of 13 other defendants Friday, including Chen's wheelchair-bound wife and several relatives, and all were expected to follow his example and stay away.

Chen and his family were not optimistic about the court's verdict, said Chiang Chi-ming, a spokesman for Chen's office.

"They expect to get heavy sentences," he told reporters gathered early Friday outside the detention centre which has been Chen's home since December.

At the court building in Taipei's government district, a group of about 20 Chen supporters had gathered Friday morning, one of them carrying a sign reading "Shame on the court".

"Justice is controlled by the Fascist government. The judges have no conscience," said one of the protesters, Yang Tze-fu, as uniformed police rolled out barbed wire around the court building.

The Apple Daily urged the independence-minded Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which Chen belonged to during almost his entire political career, to clearly signal intolerance of corruption.

"We agree that the DPP and the public should support the legal rights for all of the accused including Chen," the paper said in an editorial.

"But of course it should not stage a protest outside the court."

The ex-president has admitted using false receipts to claim money from the state, but insisted those funds were used for "secret diplomatic missions" -- not his personal benefit.

Chen has also said his wife wired 20 million US dollars abroad from past campaign funds but that she did so without his knowledge.