Hsichih Trio prayer vigil lends hope

As a prayer vigil for the so-called "Hsichih Trio" enters its fourth week, hopes of saving the three death-row inmates are growing daily at Taipei's Chinan Church (濟南教會), next to the Legislative Yuan.

While a sunny Sunday afternoon is a good time to have fun for some, over 200 people joined the vigil at the church yesterday to pray that the three men -- Su Jian-he (蘇建和), Liu Bing-lang (劉秉郎) and Chuang Lin-hsun (莊林勳) -- will be released as soon as possible.

Among those at the church were Su's father, as well as the mothers of Liu and Chung.

"I have no more tears. I've dropped them all," said Liu's 65-year-old mother, who has waited for her 28-year-old son to be released for nine years.

The three men were charged in 1991 for a double murder in Hsichih, Taipei County, and convicted under a law that carries a mandatory death sentence.

Their prosecution relied on confessions extracted under dubious conditions. The three entered jail at age 19 and have been on death row now for almost five years.

"Had my son ever done this terrible thing, he would deserve all the punishments. But I know he didn't and I have always believed that. And there is no reason they still have my innocent son suffer endlessly," Liu's mother said, calmly and firmly.

The prayer vigil was launched on April 15 by a human rights alliance to petition President-elect Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to offer a special amnesty to the "Hsichih Trio" after his inauguration.

At dusk each day for the past three weeks, as office workers head for home and students finish their classes, the vigil has been held at the church and prayers sung for the three men.

"First it was about 20 to 30 people, but the number of participants has steadily increased each day for the past three weeks," said Ku Yu-jane (顧玉珍), secretary-general of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and an organizer of the vigil.

"And to our surprise, more and more young students have also taken time to pray for the three men."

Officials from the alliance said the headquarters of Amnesty International and its branches worldwide have petitioned President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to release the Trio since 1995, but the efforts to date have been in vain.

As the political landscape changes the families of the three have turned their hope to a possible amnesty from the new president.

"They say we'll see a clean and blue sky when A-bian becomes president. I hope what they say is true and the new president will be like Judge Pao Ching-tien (包青天), who can save the life of my innocent son," Liu's mother said.

Organizers of the vigil have designated weekly topics and the vigil will continue until the day the three men are released, said Ko.