A prisoner sentenced to death attempted to commit suicide on Friday but doctors saved his life.
The prisoner, Chang Pao-hui (張胞輝), swallowed 13 batteries with drinking water in his cell in Hualien Prison but staff saw the incident on security cameras and intervened.
He was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery.
He is thought to have been unable to bear the stress of waiting for his execution.
"I felt sorry and sad on hearing about the incident," Minister of Justice Morley Shih (施茂林) told a legislative judicial committee meeting yesterday
Chang's execution has been delayed by more than 20 months because the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has said it is trying to carry out as few executions as possible with the eventual goal of abolishing the death penalty.
Chang had attempted to commit suicide by swallowing chopsticks in a prison during his trail.
Prison official Ko Huang-ming (葛煌明) told reporters that while one of the batteries was in Chang's stomach, 12 batteries had lodged in his large and small intestines.
Ko said that Chang's life was not in danger after a three-hour operation to remove the batteries, adding that Chang had seemed emotional recently.
He also said Chang's family rarely visited him in prison.
In February 2003 Chang broke into a residence, robbing and murdering an elderly man and his girlfriend.
After he was caught, investigators discovered that Chang had also killed his own girlfriend, surnamed Chen, in 2002.
The Supreme Count handed down a final verdict in June 2005, maintaining a death penalty issued by the Taiwan High Court.
In January another condemned prisoner, Huang Chih-hsien (黃志賢), committed suicide in Hualien Prison by swallowing three batteries.
Huang had told prison staff it was unbearable having to wait for his delayed execution.
Ko said there are seven prisoners, including Chang, who have been sentenced to death at Hualien Prison, and the prison has been making efforts to ensure prisoners sentenced to death do not kill themselves.
Shih yesterday said "the ministry has not changed its goal of abolishing the death penalty in Taiwan."
There are a total of 24 prisoners nationwide who have been sentenced to death but have not been executed.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
NATIONAL DAY: The ‘Taiwan Dome’ would form the centerpiece of new efforts to bolster air defense and be modeled after Israel’s ‘Iron Dome,’ sources said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday pledged to strengthen the nation’s air defense capabilities and build a “T-Dome” system to create a safety net against growing military threats from China. “We will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection and effective interception, and weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens,” he said in his National Day address. In his keynote address marking the Republic of China’s (ROC) 114th anniversary, Lai said the lessons of World War II have taught nations worldwide “to ensure that
RSS