Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to consider a nationwide prison sentence reduction as part of the Republic of China’s (ROC) centennial celebrations this year.
In his second column for the Chinese-language Next Magazine, Chen said an amnesty would relieve prison overcrowding and be celebrated “by millions.”
Now serving time for corruption and money laundering, Chen would not be eligible for such an amnesty or a sentence reduction because corruption is considered a serious offense.
“Nationwide sentence reductions took place in 1971, 1975, 1988 and 1991. It wouldn’t make any sense to not implement a sentence reduction in the centennial celebrations,” Chen wrote in the column, which appeared in yesterday’s edition of the magazine.
“Hundreds of thousands of prisoners and the accused, which along with their families number in millions, would see the president’s kindness and partake in the charity of the national day,” he said, adding that such a move would increase Ma’s chance of re-election.
Chen’s call did not attract much of a response from lawmakers of either major party, both of which have sought to distance themselves from the former president.
The president would “listen to everybody’s opinions on the matter,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said.
However, any sentence reductions would also have to take into account opinions from crime victims, he said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said that any sentence reductions needed to be carefully thought out, and advised that those found guilty of serious crimes be exempted from any such move.
Asked about the idea, DPP spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the party had yet to discuss whether it would support such a move.
“At present, it doesn’t look like Ma will reduce sentences or [pardon] the former president and I’m sure Chen Shui-bian knows that,” Chen Chi-mai said.
The former president is reportedly being paid almost NT$20,000 per article by the magazine. His first column sparked controversy last month after prison officials requested it be censured and revised a second time before publication.
Meanwhile, Taipei Prison administrators confirmed on Tuesday that another of Chen’s jailhouse articles had been prevented from going to print, this time an entry in the bi-weekly “A-bian’s Notes” (阿扁札記) column he has publishing online and in print since December 2009.
Officials had said that questionable content was again the reason behind the latest rejection, although Chen Shui-bian’s supporters have labeled the denial unconstitutional and a violation of freedom of expression laws.
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