Sun, Jun 24, 2007 page4

• Analysis: Yang pardon draws a mixed response

  WRANGLING Political parties disagree on the amnesty, with the opposition calling it a political ploy, while the ruling party said that it was the president's privilege

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Responses have been mixed to the presidential pardon granted to "rice bomber" Yang Ju-men (楊儒門), with some analysts expressing concern that the pardon would encourage violent crime.

  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) pardoned Yang on Thursday because Yang had behaved well in prison and was unlikely to break the law again.

  Despite the pardon, however, Yang will retain his criminal record.

  Yang reacted coolly to the pardon and told reporters after his release that he would like to see the government pay more attention to the plights of farmers and school children who cannot afford school lunches.

  Yang's family was also ambivalent about the pardon, with his father earlier saying that the amnesty made little difference because his son would have been eligible for parole in October.

  In response to reports that Yang did not seem to appreciate the pardon, the president said on Friday that he had wanted to grant the pardon to Yang for several years and didn't require recognition from others for doing the "right thing."

  Political parties, however, engaged in a war of words over the issue, with opposition parties criticizing Chen's move as a political gambit aimed at winning votes in the upcoming elections.

  The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), however, hit back by saying that it was the president's privilege to grant the amnesty.

  The DPP also questioned how many votes Yang would help the party garner in the elections.

  DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-fang (蔡啟芳) denounced the pardon as "ridiculous" and said it was wrong to treat Yang as a hero.

  Analysts were also divided over the issue.

  Wu Chih-chung (吳志中), a political science professor at Soochow University, said that he did not think Yang deserved a pardon, no matter how righteous his motive for the bombings was.

  Wu said he understood why people resort to violent means to vent their grievances against authoritarian governments, but in a democracy where different opinions can be expressed through legitimate channels, acts of violence cannot be tolerated.

  "It was very likely that Yang's pardon will encourage radicals to justify their violent acts when pursuing their causes," Wu said.

  He also questioned the timing of the pardon, but refused to link it entirely with the elections.

  Fort Liao (廖福特), a legal researcher at Academia Sinica and a human rights activist, said: "He [Yang] might not have wanted to hurt anybody, but committed acts of violence, after all."

  Since both the ruling and opposition parties agreed that Yang should be pardoned, Liao said Chen had merely acted in response to the legislature's request.

  Liao said he did not think the DPP would necessarily benefit from the pardon in the elections because it has become such a divisive issue.

  The case has proven controversial not because of the system of amnesty itself, he said, but rather because the pardon was granted to a man convicted of committing violent crimes.

  Liu Ping-chiun (劉秉鈞), director of Ming Chuan University's School of Law, said that the Constitution gives the president the absolute right to grant pardons.

  Liu said he believed Chen had taken all factors into consideration when making his decision on the pardon.

  While Yang will still have a criminal record, Liu said he was not worried that the pardon would encourage potential criminals to adopt similar means.

  Lin Ming-Hsin (林明昕), a law professor at National Taiwan University, said presidential pardons are essentially political in nature.

  Since the legislature had passed a resolution requesting the pardon, Lin said it was only smart for Chen to comply.

  Lin said he was not worried about the negative impact of the pardon because it was not the first time one had been granted.
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