The Judicial Yuan yesterday denied media reports that the Council of Grand Justices would likely reject requests for a constitutional interpretation on the cases of 40 death row prisoners on procedural grounds.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said it would not execute anyone on death row for whom the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) had filed for an interpretation and the ministry would await the results of the grand justices’ decision.
The announcement came after four death row prisoners — Chang Wen-wei (張文蔚), Ko Shih-ming (柯世銘), Chang Wei-long (張慰龍) and Hong Chen-yao (洪晨耀) — were executed at three different prisons at 7:30pm on Friday.
The TAEDP had said it filed two kinds of applications with the Council of Grand Justices. The first was on 14 death row prisoners who had no lawyers to represent them during their final hearings, claiming that the verdicts were therefore unconstitutional. The second was that the Supreme Court had not conducted debates during hearings before delivering the death sentence, which it claimed was also unconstitutional.
Media reports said yesterday that because human rights groups had already filed for two constitutional interpretations on the death penalty cases and had had both rejected, the Council of Grand Justices was likely to reject the latest applications as they do not review cases unless new evidence comes to light. The cases were therefore likely to be turned down on procedural grounds, the reports added.
Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said yesterday that the Council of Grand Justices had received the applications, adding that he would not comment on media speculation.
Meanwhile, an MOJ official, who wished to remain anonymous, said the ministry had received letters from three death row prisoners — Kuan Chung-yan (管鍾演), Wang Kuo-hua (王國華) and Cheng Wu-sung (鄭武松) — asking that the ministry not delay their executions because waiting to die was “torture.”
Kuan headed a robbery and murder group responsible for seven murders, Wang robbed and sexually assaulted several young women after getting to know them on the Internet and killed a young woman by putting her and her sister into a bag and throwing it into a river, while Cheng murdered his ex-wife and her boss because he thought they were having an affair, according to the court rulings in their cases.
Meanwhile, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday acknowledged the EU’s condemnation of Friday’s executions, but said the executions were necessary to live up to the public’s expectations of the judiciary.
“About 70 percent of respondents in several [government] surveys support the retention of the death penalty,” Wu told reporters. “Carrying out capital punishment is part of social justice and it is legal.”
Wu was responding to Catherine Ashton, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security, who issued a statement on Saturday condemning the executions.
“The European Union urges the government of Taiwan immediately to resume the de facto moratorium on the death penalty, pending legal abolition, which should include all cases still on death row in Taiwan,” the statement said. “The European Union further urges the government of Taiwan to resume a policy toward eventual abolition of the death penalty, in line with the global trend toward universal abolition.”
Until Friday, the ministry had not approved an execution since December 2005.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) told the Taipei Times that it was “normal” for the EU to express concern about executions, but it would not affect Taipei’s chances of being granted visa-waiver privileges by the end of the year.
“Abolition of the death penalty is the government’s ultimate goal, but the public still cannot reach a consensus on the issue. The ministry has explained the situation to member states of the EU on numerous occasions and they have all responded with understanding.”
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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