The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Statute of Open Prisons (外役監條例) that raise the threshold for an inmate’s eligibility to be transferred to a minimum-security prison.
Under the amendments, an inmate must have served at least one-third of their sentence to be eligible, or one half of their sentence for those serving terms for repeat offenses.
It must also be within one year before they become eligible for parole.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The inmate must have demonstrated good behavior while in prison, and must be deemed to pose no threat to the public.
Those who are in prison for committing felonies that carry a minimum 10-year prison sentence — for example, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, privately detaining others, aggravated fraud or crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children — are not eligible for transfer to a minimum-security facility.
An inmate who has broken a restraining order imposed under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (家庭暴力防治法) is also not eligible, nor is one who is involved in a separate ongoing case and is considered a flight risk.
Those who are serving fixed-term seven-year sentences for crimes stipulated under the Banking Act (銀行法), the Financial Holding Company Act (金融控股公司法), the Credit Cooperatives Act (信用合作社法) or any other law related to the finance sector are also not eligible, with the exception of those who have no criminal proceeds or whose criminal proceeds have been confiscated under the law.
Those who are serving sentences for embezzlement or appropriation of public funds must return the proceeds of the crime before becoming eligible for transfer.
The Ministry of Justice previously proposed an amendment to the law following the alleged killing of two police officers by Lin Hsin-wu (林信吾), an inmate who had been serving in a minimum-security prison when he escaped.
That proposal was shelved as legislators across party lines failed to reach a consensus on its content.
Discussions on the law’s amendment were recently revived after Yi Pao-hung (易寶宏) — who is serving time for his involvement in a 2014 case in which police officers were killed in a nightclub shooting — was transferred to a minimum-security prison, resulting in a backlash from the public.
‘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
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
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
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