The transfer of military prison inmates to 11 civilian prisons around the nation will begin this week, the Ministry of Justice announced yesterday, with 243 prisoners scheduled to be moved today.
The transfers follow an amendment to the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法), passed by the legislature on Tuesday last week and promulgated by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday.
Under the amendment, military personnel facing trial during peacetime will be prosecuted in civilian courts, starting today.
Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tung (陳明堂) said there are 307 military personnel serving time in the military prison in Greater Tainan’s Lioujia District (六甲).
The military police will be responsible for the transfers and 72 sets of handcuffs have been borrowed from Tainan Prison and the Tainan Detention Center for use during the transfers, he said.
The remaining military prisoners will be transferred to civilian prisons after the second stage of the overhaul of the military’s court martial system begins in five months, Chen said.
According to a Ministry of National Defense official familiar with the transfer plans, the inmates to be transferred today include three two-star generals, two one-star generals and Navy Captain Kuo Li-heng (郭力恆), who was jailed in connection with the Lafayette frigate kickback scandal in the 1990s.
To ensure the smooth transfer of such a large number of prisoners, the details are being kept confidential, the official said, but the moves should start early in the morning and be completed by this afternoon.
It will not be the first time the military has had to transfer a large number of prisoners, the official said, referring to the hundreds of prisoners who were moved to the Tainan facility in 2005, when the Sindian Military Prison was closed.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from