The Taichung Branch of the Taiwan High Court yesterday ruled that death-row inmate Cheng Hsing-tse (鄭性澤) should be released on bail pending a retrial on the charges that have seen him imprisoned for 14 years, including 10 on death row.
The 49-year-old Cheng, who has always maintained his innocence, walked out of the Taichung Prison in the afternoon and was met by family members and supporters, including representatives of the Taiwan Association for Innocence and the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty.
After 5,231 days of incarceration, Cheng said: “This taste of freedom is a really great feeling.”
Photo: Hsu Kuo-chen, Taipei Times
“I have been imprisoned for the past 14 years, but now I am so happy that I can spend this Mother’s Day with my family,” he said as he embraced his mother.
Some supporters came with sunflowers and handed one to Cheng, as they hailed his release as a victory for human rights and shouted: “Cheng is innocent of the crime” and “We don’t want to have any more wrongful convictions.”
Cheng’s attorney Law Bing-cheng (羅秉成) said the day has been late in coming because his client is innocent and has been jailed for too long.
“Today he is set free, and for this we have to thank the prosecutors and the judges. This case has also set milestones in Taiwan’s judiciary, because it is the first time that a man whose death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court is going to receive a retrial. I am certain Cheng has the courage to face the retrial so that he can clear his name,” Law said.
Yesterday’s decision barred Cheng from leaving the country or going out to sea.
Cheng’s case has gone through seven trials and seven retrials, including the Supreme Court upholding his death sentence in 2006.
A retrial was ordered after Cheng’s defense team presented new evidence raising doubts about his conviction for the death of police officer Su Hsien-pi (蘇憲丕) during an exchange of gunfire at a KTV parlor in Taichung in 2002 and prosecutors concurred.
The prosecutors’ application in March for a retrial was the first time in the nation’s history that a retrial has been sought in a case where the Supreme Court’s final ruling upheld the original death sentence.
Cheng is the fifth death row inmate to be released from prison for a retrial, including the Hsichih Trio case of Su Chien-ho (蘇建和), Liu Bin-lang (劉秉郎) and Chuang Lin-hsun (莊林勳), who were found not guilty in 2012.
Human rights groups have long highlighted what they said were defects in the original investigation and questionable evidence used by prosecutors, including a confession that Cheng had been tortured and coerced into making.
After re-examining the forensic evidence and findings from a new investigative report, Taichung prosecutor Wu Tsui-fang (吳萃芳) decided a retrial was needed because the evidence indicated that another suspect had fired the fatal gunshot that killed Su, not Cheng.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS