President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday pardoned a Bunun hunter charged in 2013 with killing protected animals, on the first anniversary of her second presidential term.
The pardon of Tama Talum, convicted in 2015 for killing a Reeves’ muntjac and a Formosan serow with a modified shotgun, is the first pardon of Tsai’s two terms since 2016 and the seventh since the enactment of the Constitution on Dec. 25, 1947.
Talum was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for possessing an illegal weapon and hunting protected species. He appealed, and in 2017, the Supreme Court suspended the hearing, but asked the Council of Grand Justices to review hunting regulations under the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) and the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法).
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
The Council of Grand Justices on May 7 ruled in Constitutional Interpretation No. 803 that some restrictions on Aborigines were unconstitutional, but stopped short of supporting a total overhaul of the regulations.
The Supreme Court yesterday said that although Talum was pardoned from serving his sentence, it would need to follow procedure until the case is closed, as verdicts from the lower appellate courts still stand.
Presidential Office spokesperson Kolas Yotaka, an Amis, said the decision carried significant weight, especially amid the government’s efforts to promote historical and transitional justice for Aborigines.
The Constitution clearly supports the values of a multiethnic and multicultural society, guaranteeing Aborigines the right to express their culture in the form of hunting, she said.
“The people share their living space with nature. It is part of Aboriginal culture. They live together, they live off each other,” Kolas said, adding that hunting is a natural part of the lives of Aborigines.
Although Talum had contravened certain laws, his actions were within the defined parameters of Aboriginal culture, as stated in Constitutional Interpretation No. 803, and he should be pardoned to show that the government respects Aboriginal culture, she said.
Talum said that he had not yet heard the news of the pardon from his lawyer, adding that he would be happy if it is true.
He said he would not go out of his way to mention it to his 99-year-old mother, for whom he had said he hunted the birds in 2013, given her advanced age and poor memory.
Another hunter Pan Chih-chiang (潘志強), a Puyuma who was sentenced on similar charges and among those petitioning for a constitutional interpretation on hunting, said he was happy to hear of Tsai’s decision, adding that the pardon would help dissolve ethnic tension and confrontation.
Pan in 2014 was sentenced to six months in prison, or a fine of NT$180,000, for killing two Reeves’ muntjacs. He chose to pay the fine.
The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan said that the pardon was mostly issued due to Talum’s aging mother, adding that Aboriginal communities must step up self-policing of hunting.
There are more than 700 Aboriginal communities nationwide, and if wildlife hunting is not monitored and regulated with a total cap, more wild animals would need legal protection due to overhunting, the society said.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in
RSS