Taiwan's most notorious criminal, Chen Chin-hsing (
Prosecutor Chang Hwei-chiung (
Despite previous media reports yesterday that Chen might be executed as early as last night, the order had not reached Yeh's office as of yesterday afternoon.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, LIBERTY TIMES
Chen's case has been marred by disputes over the validity of the law applied to his case. Human rights groups and some legal experts argue that the Act for the Control and Punishment of Banditry (懲治盜匪條例), commonly known as the "bandit law," violates basic human rights and is no longer valid. They say that the government has repeatedly ignored one article of the 1944 law requiring its annual renewal to stay in effect.
However, the legislature, the Ministry of Justice, and the Supreme Court all recently concluded that the law is still in effect.
As the legal debate continues, Yeh has yet to order executions of nine others convicted under the law, including the famous Hsichih trio, who many lawyers believe have been wrongly convicted.
Chen and two accomplices plunged Taipei into a security nightmare in April 1997 when they kidnapped the 17-year-old daughter of entertainer Pai Ping-ping (白冰冰). Together with Lin Chun-sheng (林春生) and Kao Tien-min (高天民), Chen was on the run from police for seven months after kidnapping and beating the girl to death.
The case triggered public anger over the government's perceived inability to stem deteriorating social order. The outrage culminated in street demonstrations in May 1997, when tens of thousands of people demanded the resignation of then-premier Lien Chan (連戰).
While on the run, Chen and his gang committed two more kidnappings and a grisly triple murder at a plastic surgeon's clinic in October. Lin and Kao were eventually killed in separate shootouts with the police. Chen, meanwhile, later admitted to having preyed on many young women living alone in Taipei and raping them.
The drama ended in November when Chen broke into the residence of the South African military attache and held his family hostage for 24 hours before surrendering.
While on death row, Chen handed a 50,000-character confession to a Christian group. The Ministry of Justice reacted strongly to the group's plan to have his confessions published. The group has postponed the publication.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry
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