A bill submitted by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) on Friday would commute sentences to reduce the overcrowding in the nation’s prisons.
The bill, which is patterned after a previous commutation of sentences in 2007, was sent to the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee for review, and Liao hopes it will clear the Legislature this session. The bill would apply to offenses committed prior to May 20 next year. Death sentences would be commuted to life sentences, life imprisonment would be reduced to 20 years and other sentences would be cut in half.
The proposal would not apply, however, to convictions for corruption, vote-buying, manslaughter or sexual offenses that come with the death penalty, life sentences or prison terms of more than 18 months.
That would mean that former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is serving a 20-year prison term for corruption, and former lawmaker Yen Chin-piao (顏清標), who is in jail for misuse of public funds, would not serve shorter sentences were the proposal to clear the legislature.
Offering lukewarm support for the bill, KMT Legislator Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said he “respected” Liao’s proposal and expected the committee would carefully review it.
Lin said he believed the public would accept a commutation of sentences for minor offenses or first-time offenders, but reducing sentences for major offenses would be a tougher sell. He said the feelings of victims of crime and their families needed to be considered along with the human rights of prison inmates.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said his party has yet to discuss the issue. However Wu, who once served as a judge, said legislators should consider whether overcrowded prisons should be used repeatedly as a justification for commuting sentences.
According to the National Audit Office, 38 out of 49 penitentiaries in Taiwan are overcrowded, leaving inmates with an average space of 0.4 ping (1.32m2), lower than the 0.7 ping stipulated by the Ministry of Justice.
Academic Liu Kung-chung (劉孔中) said a survey by the Justice Ministry found that after the commutation in 2007, the reoffending rate was as high as 57 percent, with 90 percent of the repeat offenses involving drugs, burglary and public hazards.
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle