Lawmakers yesterday proposed that a cap on the level of compensation given to the families of people who have been wrongfully executed should be removed.
Legislators from the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee preliminarily passed a draft amendment to the law governing compensation for miscarriages of justice, stipulating that the cash compensation provided to the families of people who have been wrongfully executed should be unlimited.
Lawmakers from across party lines also proposed that calculating the compensation should be raised to NT$5,000 per day from between NT$1,000 and NT$3,000 per day for the total life expectancy of the executed person.
The legislators proposed the amendment after the reopening of an investigation late last year into the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in 1996 that led to the wrongful execution of an air force private.
Taipei prosecutors decided last year that Chiang Kuo-ching’s (江國慶) conviction in 1996 was the result of a coerced confession, following which he was executed at the age of 21.
The Military Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Office filed an extraordinary appeal with the Supreme Court in May last year to reopen the case in the wake of Control Yuan findings that Chiang was tortured into confessing by military investigators who were under pressure to solve the case.
The torture included aiming strong lights at Chiang during marathon interrogation sessions and forcing him to watch a videotape showing how the girl’s body was dissected during an autopsy, prosecutors said. Once in court, however, Chiang withdrew his confession and pleaded not guilty. He was convicted nonetheless and executed in August 1997, less than a year after the crime took place.
The lawmakers proposed the draft amendment before reaching a consensus with the Judicial Yuan to raise the daily compensation and remove the compensation cap. Currently, the upper limit on compensation is NT$30 million (US$1 million).
If the amendment is passed, Chiang’s family could be compensated more than NT$100 million, based on Chiang’s age of 21 when he was executed in 1997 and on the average life expectancy for Taiwanese males, which stood at 76 in the year he was killed, the legislators said.
Also yesterday, the defense ministry’s District Military Court Prosecutors’ Office in Northern Taiwan decided to open a fresh investigation into the case, saying that there was new evidence showing that the execution was wrongful.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS