A military court yesterday acquitted Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), who was executed for the rape and murder of a girl 15 years ago, in a posthumous trial.
Chiang was executed in 1997 after being convicted of sexually abusing and murdering a five-year-old girl.
The Military Northern District Court yesterday morning handed down the ruling after the Military Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Office filed an extraordinary appeal with the Military Supreme Court in May last year to reopen the case.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The Military Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s legal action followed findings by the Control Yuan that Chiang had been tortured by military investigators.
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it was the final verdict and it would help Chiang’s family apply for national compensation.
The ministry said the court ruled that Chiang’s statements were made against his will and that the blood-soaked toilet paper and knife used as evidence against Chiang were re-examined by forensic experts, who concluded that they could not prove Chiang’s involvement in the murder.
Shen Shih-wei (沈世偉), an official with the ministry’s Judicial Department, visited Chiang’s mother Wang Tsai-lien (王彩蓮) at her apartment yesterday afternoon and delivered a copy of the ruling.
Wang’s attorney Greg Yo (尤伯祥) and two other attorneys were in the court to hear the ruling.
Yo said Chiang’s family is expected to receive about NT$100 million (US$3.3 million) in compensation.
Yo, who also represented the Judicial Reform Foundation, called on Taipei district prosecutors to quickly complete an investigation into the role and responsibility of former minister of national defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) and other military officers in the wrongful execution.
Yo said Chen was the mastermind behind the botched investigation of Chiang’s case.
In an interview in the morning, Wang said: “I will bring the acquittal ruling to my son and my husband’s shrines.”
She added she would not forgive those military officials responsible and wanted to see the verdicts against former air force counterintelligence official Ko Chung-ching (柯仲慶) and others.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division concluded on May 24 that Chiang, who was serving in the air force command in 1996 at the time of the murder, was not guilty of the crime.
Chiang was executed at the age of 21.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has since charged a new suspect, Hsu Jung-chou (許榮洲), with the girl’s murder.
Prosecutors said Chiang was tortured during questioning, including exposure to strong lights and being forced to watch a video of the girl’s autopsy. He was also threatened with an electric prod and deprived of sleep while being forced to undergo strenuous physical activities.
Prosecutors said Hsu left bloody palm prints at the scene of the crime, which a DNA test confirmed were his.
Hsu’s case is pending in the Taipei District Court.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS