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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as