The Taoyuan District Court yesterday found 13 military officials guilty of abuse of power and sentenced them to between three and eight months in prison for the death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘).
The verdict sparked an angry protest from the Hung family, who condemned the sentences as being too light.
The 24-year-old Hung collapsed from heatstroke after drill exercises on July 3 last year and died in hospital a day later, just three days before he was due to be discharged from his compulsory military service.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Members of the Hung family who were in court to listen to the ruling yesterday afternoon said they would file an appeal with the Taiwan High Court.
Hung’s mother and his sister, Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), cried out upon hearing the decision.
“One life only costs a six-month sentence. No one was found responsible for the incident,” Hung’s mother later said outside the courthouse.
“We want to voice our disapproval. The government and the defense ministry is black-hearted and this is a dark day for justice. The verdict is unacceptable,” Hung’s uncle, Hu Shih-ho (胡世和), told reporters while giving the thumbs-down sign, as some supporters shouted “unfair justice.”
The ruling found 13 of the 18 defendants guilty, while the remaining five were acquitted.
Former company commander Major Hsu Shin-cheng (徐信正) of the 542nd Brigade was sentenced to eight months in prison for abusing his authority to confine Hung Chung-chiu.
Former commander of the 542nd Brigade Major General Shen Wei-chih (沈威志), former deputy commander Colonel Ho Chiang-chung (何江忠), vice company director Captain Liu Yen-chun (劉延俊), First Sergeant Chen Yi-jen (陳以人) and Staff Sergeant Fan Tso-hsien (范佐憲) were all sentenced to six months in prison on the same charge.
Staff Sergeant Chen Yi-hsun (陳毅勳) of the 269th Brigade, who oversaw Hung Chung-chiu’s punishment while in confinement, was sentenced to six months in prison. The sentenced can be commuted to a fine.
Sergeant Lo Chi-yuan (羅濟元) and three others were found guilty of charges of death caused by professional negligence and each given five months in prison. Corporal Lee Nien-tsu (李念祖) received a six-month sentence for the same charge. The five sentences for negligence can be commuted to fines.
First Lieutenant Kao Yu-lung (郭毓龍) was sentenced to three months in prison on charges of abuse of authority by confining the army conscript.
Hung Chung-chiu’s death sparked major protests, as the military dragged its feet in investigating the conscript’s death.
Military prosecutors indicted 18 senior officers and non-commissioned officers over the incident.
Public pressure also eventually led to an amendment to the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法) in August last year that put civilian courts and prosecutors in charge of military criminal cases. The Hung case was subsequently transferred from the Military High Court to the Taoyuan District Court.
Additional reporting by AFP and CNA
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS