The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked Thailand to consider humanitarian and human rights issues when handling criminal cases involving suspects from Taiwan, a senior official said yesterday.
Cheng Bo-jo (鄭博久), director of the ministry's East Asian and Pacific Affairs Department, made the remarks after receiving a petition from families of two Taiwan nationals serving time in Thai prisons.
Accompanied by KMT Legislator Yang Li-huan (
Yang said 60-year-old Chen Yi-hsiung (
Chen was on his way from Chiang Rai to Bangkok when Thai police discovered 700g of heroin in the chassis of his rental car, Yang said. Both Chen and his driver, Yeng Choomyen, were detained. Chen's family, however, didn't learn of his detention until last November.
"Chen's family received a letter from the Thai driver demanding the family deposit 6 million baht in his wife's bank account at Bangkok Bank in exchange for his confession to police that the drug belonged to him. Otherwise, the driver said he would let Chen take the rap," Yang said.
Another man, Chang Ming-jen (張明仁), 45, has been imprisoned in Thailand since June 1991. Chang was convicted of drug trafficking and given a 40-year sentence. According to Yang, Chang says he does not know how the drugs got in his baggage.
As Chang's parents are very old, Yang urged the ministry to reach an agreement with Thailand as early as possible to pave the way for Chang and other Taiwanese to be repatriated to serve out their sentences in prisons in Taiwan.
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