Following the release of two inmates on parole from a Thai jail earlier this year, another two Taiwanese inmates have applied for parole in the coming month, a non-government legal aid group said last week.
The second pair have handed in their applications for parole, which are likely to be approved in the coming month, said Chang Hsueh-hai (張學海), the head of the Taiwan Association for Legal Aid, who paid a recent visit to the prisoners.
The first Taiwanese prisoner to be paroled in Thailand was Su Hsiang-ju (蘇相如), who returned to Taiwan on Nov. 4 last year.
Su was originally sentenced to death for his involvement in a drug case in 1986, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
He was granted a special pardon by King Bhumibol Adulyadej after 23 years as part of a prison amnesty program to mark the 60th anniversary of the monarch’s coronation.
Bhumibol turns 84 this year and Chang said the king will likely grant special pardons to inmates who have shown good behavior as part of his birthday celebrations.
About 30 other Taiwanese inmates have applied for parole and have a good chance of having their terms reduced, Chang said.
There are 186 Taiwanese currently imprisoned in Thailand, down from 220 earlier this year, most of whom have been convicted of drug offenses or fraud.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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