The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a sentence of life imprisonment for convicted child killer Tseng Wen-chin (曾文欽), angering the victim’s family, who condemned the nation’s justice system for not issuing a death sentence for the murder.
Tseng, 32, was found guilty of slashing the throat of a 10-year-old boy, surnamed Fang (方), and leaving him to die in Tainan in 2012.
Tseng randomly chose his victim at an arcade in a Tainan department store.
Photo: CNA
Tseng further shocked the public with remarks he made after his arrest, saying: “In Taiwan, you will not be sentenced to death for killing just one or two people.”
Commentators said the case was a major test for the judiciary regarding the random murder of children, and that a number of suspects in subsequent murder cases had cited Tseng’s words that judges would not sentence them to death.
The Supreme Court said that Tseng was assessed to have been mentally ill and suffering from depression and anxiety at the time of the murder, so in accordance with Taiwan’s adoption of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2009, the death sentence could not be applied.
“Tseng had no prior criminal record, he had only a grade-school education, had poor social skills and had been without a job for many months. Under the negative emotions of helplessness, anxiety and depression, Tseng committed a premeditated murder, but he was not beyond the bounds of rehabilitation,” the court statement said.
“[The murder] was due to problems he had while growing up and mental illness, and he confessed to the crime, therefore he was not devoid of human feelings and there remains the possibility of rehabilitation. Therefore, a death sentence is not suitable in this case, and the court sentenced him to life in prison,” it said.
Following yesterday’s ruling, which was final, the victim’s aunt reacted angrily.
“Is there any fairness left in our society? Taiwan’s justice system is dead,” she said. “I want to ask these judges: Where is your sense of justice? Where is your moral righteousness?”
Having attended the trial, she said Tseng was only acting to fool the judges into believing he was mentally ill.
“This is a disgraceful judgement. I cannot accept it at all,” she said. “The court says this killer does not deserve to die, but what about our little boy — did he deserve to die? Who can give justice to him?”
Taiwan Children’s Rights Association director-general Wang Wei-chun (王薇君) said the ruling did not conform with society’s expectations.
“We have seen many children being murdered since this case. How many more children will have their throats cut? The murderers seek out little children because they are easy to kill and cannot defend themselves,” Wang said.
“The judiciary wants to give second chances at life for the killers, but how can they prevent people from copying these crimes?” Wang asked. “I do not understand what has happened to our nation’s justice system. They keep coming up with these rulings that people feel are very far out of touch.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique