Hsichih Trio finally win their freedom

In a climax to one of the most controversial legal sagas in Taiwan's history, three men dubbed the Hsichih Trio walked free from the Taiwan High Court yesterday after the court overturned their murder convictions and ruled that they should be released immediately.

But the judge indicated that their ordeal is not quite over.

"The court has decided to overturn the murder convictions of the defendants and they shall be released immediately," Judge Yeh Teng-juei (葉騰瑞) said at the trial yesterday morning.

"But the court also decided to ban them from changing addresses or traveling outside the country until the final verdict in this case is available," Yeh said.

The prosecution has 20 days to decide whether to appeal after receiving their copy of the verdict. The Supreme Court normally hears appeals in such cases within a week after an appeal is requested.

The No. 17 courtroom burst into loud applause when Yeh finished reading the verdict that released Su Chien-ho (蘇建和), Liu Bing-lang (劉秉郎) and Chuang Lin-hsun (莊林勳).

The trio had been incarcerated at the Taipei Detention House for more than 11 years. All three were 19 years old when first detained.

Tsai Kuo-tsai (蔡國在), spokesman for the Taiwan High Court, said that weaknesses in the evidence against the trio were the main reason for the ruling.

"First of all, the fingerprints and hair collected at the crime scene did not match theirs. Their individual testimonies did not match either," Tsai said. "In addition, the court believed that the trio had no connection to the kitchen knife believed to have been the murder weapon."

That knife was "lost" during legal hearings involving another suspect in the case, Wang Wen-hsiao (王文孝), who was serving in the military at the time and whose fingerprints were found on it.

Wang was executed on Jan. 11, 1992, under Military Law after confessing and pleading guilty to the murder.

Immediately after yesterday's hearing, the plaintiffs' and the defendants' lawyers held press conferences in the conference room of the Taiwan Bar Association next to the court building.

"We sincerely hope that this is the last miscarriage of justice in Taiwan," said defense counsel Su You-chen (蘇友辰).

The defendants said at Su's press conference that they were grateful for the result but it had been too long in coming.

"I have given most of my youth for this case and I am glad that we were finally proved innocent today," said Su Chien-ho.

Asked whether he was worried that the plaintiffs may appeal, Su said he had nothing to fear.

"The truth is the truth. My statement will remain the same even if there is another hearing or trial," he said.

"It was a bit late but it finally came," Liu said.

Chuang simply stood up, bowed and said, "Thank you all for your support."

Lin Hsien-tung (林憲同) and Yang Szu-chin (楊思勤), the plaintiffs' lawyers, said at their press conference that they would appeal.

"A lot of people care about this case for humanitarian reasons. But I am asking the public to try to understand how the victims' families feel," Yang said.

The plaintiffs are Wu Tang-tang (吳唐糖) and Wu Tang-chieh (吳唐接) -- mother and older brother respectively of victim Wu Ming-han (吳銘漢) -- and Wu Tung-yen (吳東諺), 17-year-old handicapped son of Wu Ming-han and his wife, Yeh Ying-lan (葉盈蘭), who was murdered with him.

"If they are innocent, then who are the murderers?" asked Wu Tang-tang.