The Northern Military District Court filed a civil suit yesterday against former minister of national defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) and five others implicated in the wrongful execution of an airman 15 years ago, seeking NT$14.75 million (US$500,000) in compensation from each of them.
Chen was chief of air force Combat Command at the time of the conviction. The other five are former air force legal department director Tsao Chia-sheng (曹嘉生), former military prosecutor Huang Jui-peng (黃瑞鵬), and former air force counterintelligence agents Ko Chung-ching (柯仲慶), Ho Tsu-yao (何祖耀) and Lee Chih-Jen (李植仁), according to a Ministry of National Defense statement.
Lee has passed away and his share of the money is now the responsibility of his heirs. The legal action was taken after the six refused to reimburse the court for compensation awarded to the victim’s family, the statement said.
In October last year, a military court awarded NT$103 million in compensation to Wang Tsai-lien (王彩蓮), the mother of Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), the air force serviceman who was executed in 1997 for a rape and murder he did not commit.
According to a decision by a compensation review committee formed by the court, the six officials, as well as former counterintelligence agent Teng Chun-huan (鄧震環), committed major mistakes in the case and should be held responsible for paying the compensation to Chiang’s family, the ministry statement said.
None of the officials involved has shown any intention of making the payment except for Teng, who reached a NT$2.8 million settlement with the committee and made the payment on April 6, the statement said.
Chiang was convicted of raping and killing a five-year-old girl at Air Force Combat Command in Taipei in 1996 and was executed a year later at the age of 21.
However, his conviction and execution were determined many years later to have depended on a coerced confession, with at least six officials found to have tortured him.
Chiang was acquitted in a posthumous retrial in September last year.
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