Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and former DPP chairmen Shih Ming-te (施明德) and Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) have refused to accept compensation from the Foundation for Compensation for Improper Trials during the martial law era, local media reported yesterday.
Meanwhile, many other victims of the "White Terror" period -- including Council of Labor Affairs Chairwoman Chen Chu (
Council for Cultural Affairs Chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀), the widow of the late DPP legislator Lu Hsiu-yi (盧修一), has received NT$2.1 million in compensation for a three-year jail sentence that her husband was given in 1983 on sedition charges.
Taiwan's 38-year martial law era came to an end in July 1987. In 1998 the legislature passed a statute to allow victims of "improper" convictions to apply for compensation. The foundation was established in April 1999 in order to identify and compensate victims of political persecution during that period.
The foundation has received about 6,700 applications over the past three years -- of which about 4,800 have been approved so far. The total amount of the compensation paid to the victims is estimated at NT$15 billion.
Under the law, most of the victims can receive an average of NT$3 million from the foundation. Family members of those who were sentenced to death are eligible for up to NT$6 million.
According to the law, however, only those convicted of three crimes -- rebellion, treason and espionage -- and who were subsequently jailed or executed are entitled to the compensation.
Some victims of the martial law era have complained about the law, saying that not being convicted and jailed or executed does not mean that they did not suffer while under investigation and on trial.
The compensation issue has triggered other problems as well. According to the foundation, some family members of the victims have quarreled with -- or filed lawsuits against -- each other in their battles for money.
Some of them have allegedly even threatened the foundation after their applications for compensation were turned down.
The April 6 Incident in 1949 -- when police arrested 21 dissident students at National Taiwan University and seven at Taiwan Normal University -- triggered the implementation of martial law.
The arrests caused a clash between police and students, leading to the appearance of a large student movement before martial law was imposed. Several hundred students were arrested afterwards and some were executed. The incident also marked the beginning of the so-called "White Terror" period.
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