Former independent legislator Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) will be released on parole soon despite the fact that he hasn’t served half his prison term, officials said yesterday.
Yen has only served one year and seven months of a three-year, nine-month prison sentence, Deputy Minister of Justice Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) said.
But having served more than one-third of his sentence and having behaved well in prison, the ministry’s evaluation board agreed to release Yen on parole, Huang said at a press conference.
Huang said the ministry approved the application for parole in accordance with provisions in the Criminal Code in existence in 1996, when Yen committed the crime.
Prior to 1994, prison inmates who showed good behavior while doing time were only eligible to apply for parole if they had served more than half of their prison term.
The Criminal Code was changed in 1994 to allow prisoners to apply for parole after serving only a third of their sentences.
But the law reverted to the original parole requirement in November 1997. Repeat offenders are required to serve two-thirds of their sentences before being eligible for parole.
Taichung Prison deputy prison warden Huang Chun-tang (黃俊棠) said Yen would be released within three to seven days, after receiving official notification from the ministry.
The charges stem from an incident in 1996 that occurred shortly after Yen received a threatening telephone call.
His bodyguards fired at a car that he believed was following him, riddling the car with more than 40 bullets.
After being sentenced to prison, he twice requested that his prison sentence be delayed, citing his need to have a polyp removed from his throat. After being detained for 10 months during parts of his investigation and trial, Yen was escorted to Taichung Prison last August.
Yen still has a corruption conviction pending an appeal. He was charged with illegally using up to NT$20.6 million (US$626,000) in public funds while serving as Taichung County Council speaker from October 1998 to December 2000.
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