Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) yesterday said that while she respects court decisions that handed out life sentences in two murder cases, “the majority of Taiwanese are in favor of capital punishment.”
There are civic organizations lobbying to abolish the death penalty, “however this is at some divergence from the majority opinion,” she told a Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statues Committee meeting, adding: “We cannot subjugate the wishes of the majority to that of a minority.”
She said that public surveys have shown that about 70 percent of the public approve of capital punishment, while about 20 percent oppose it.
Luo’s remarks came in the aftermath of two court rulings earlier this week that caused a furor and led to heated discussion over capital punishment.
One case involved the slaying of a fifth-grade student by 31-year-old Tseng Wen-chin (曾文欽) in Greater Tainan in 2012. Tseng was convicted of killing the boy by slitting his throat with a knife.
Tseng reportedly told investigators that “in Taiwan nowadays, I could kill one or two people and would not get the death penalty. I will just be locked up for life.”
“If I had not been arrested for this crime, I would have killed more people until I had been caught,” he said.
The Greater Tainan branch of the High Court on Monday sentenced Tseng to life in prison, upholding a lower-court decision in July last year.
The other ruling was over the murder of a female university student by 39-year-old Huang Wen-chin (黃文進) in Greater Taichung last year. The Taichung District Court on Tuesday sentenced Huang to life in prison.
Due to the grisly nature of the crime, which included rape and swindling her out of a large sum of money, some members of the public had demanded that Huang be put to death.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) said the situation has changed since former minister of justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) ended her tenure. Wang was minister from 2008 to 2010.
“During her term, Wang refused to sign execution orders for death row convicts,” Kao said.
“Her stance polarized many people, pitting those in favor of capital punishment against people who oppose it,” Kao said.
“Because of Wang’s inaction, deliberation on the issue influenced judges, some of whom have been reluctant to hand out death sentences,” Kao said.
Regarding the decision in Tseng’s case, Luo said the ruling is not final, adding that she hopes judges can take into account public opinion.
“We have laws that aim to protect children, but there is also a push by international communities to abolish capital punishment, so we have a very difficult task on our hands,” she said.
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