The Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to spare the life of convicted child killer Tseng Wen-chin (曾文欽) by commuting his sentence to life in prison has stirred up debate over capital punishment.
Tseng, 32, was found guilty of the random killing of a 10-year-old boy when he slashed the boy’s throat in Tainan in 2012.
Lin Hsin-yi (林欣怡), who is head of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, yesterday said the public did not have a full understanding of the judiciary’s ruling.
“The judges did not hand out the death sentence, because they do not want to punish Tseng for his crime, but because a life sentence is a more severe punishment for Tseng,” she said.
She said the public might have distorted Tseng’s remarks after his arrest, when he said: “In Taiwan, you will not be sentenced to death for killing just one or two people.”
“The media kept bringing up what Tseng said and the public felt he was a vile, cruel man. They believed Tseng killed so he could go to jail and get three meals a day. This led to the sentiment that Tseng should be put to death for his heinous crime, but that was a misunderstanding, because Tseng wanted to die. He was not trying to beg for his life,” Lin said.
No matter what, it was a severe wrongdoing by Tseng that cost a life which cannot be replaced, Lin said, adding: “Let’s examine the facts. The ruling by the judges was for life imprisonment, which is a more severe punishment for Tseng than a death sentence.”
Other advocates who support the abolition of capital punishment said the nation’s justice system has not progressed and many wrongful convictions had been made that resulted in the execution of innocent people.
Many judicial officials still retained their Martial Law-era mentality and trying to extract confessions through brutal beatings, electric shocks and other torture methods, the group said.
Chen Cheng-yu (陳正育), the convener for a coalition of groups against abolishing capital punishment castigated the judges for not sentencing Tseng to death.
“In Taiwan, we are deficient in justice and equality. I urge everyone to call the Ministry of Justice to express our anger so the government can hear the voices of the common people,” he said.
Chen called on legislators to amend the law to institute a system to review and evaluate the judiciary and replace judges who are not suited for their positions.
Other experts said Tseng’s case could have been prevented if his family and friends had shown more concern, adding that Taiwan lacked a good social welfare network to assist marginalized people.
Criminology professor Shen Sheng-ang (沈勝昂), who conducted the psychiatric assessment for the case, said Tseng told him: “I live a miserable life. Nobody wants to be my friend, because I am fat and not good-looking.”
Investigators said Tseng came from an impoverished family and his parents separated when he was 12. After grade school, he worked in a factory as a manual laborer and in the six months prior to his crime he was unemployed and had no money.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS