A children’s welfare protection group is calling for support for a rally tomorrow in front of the Ministry of Justice in Taipei to protest several recent court decisions.
Taiwan Children’s Rights Association director-general Wang Wei-chun (王薇君) said the aim is to attract a crowd large enough to surround the ministry building.
“People must come out to express their anger against the judicial system,” she said, asking people to bring enough food and clothing in case the protest lasts overnight into Monday morning.
Wang highlighted a High Court ruling on Monday that sentenced Tseng Wen-ching (曾文欽) to life in prison for the slaying of a fifth-grade student.
Wang and her group sought the death penalty for Tseng and other murder cases; her stance has led to clashes with groups who are lobbying to end capital punishment.
On Tseng’s case, Wang said: “Children have no vote, so the government and Taiwan’s judicial system do not value their lives. I want the public to come to the protest. Together we can surround the justice ministry so the government can reflect on the flaws in the criminal justice system.”
“The public pays taxes to the government, so we hope it will protect the people and let us live in security. However, what we get is victims being assaulted and having to suffer again and again. This is just unbearable,” she added.
Wang said Taiwan’s judges have too much free will in their interpretation of the law, “but when they do not hand out the death penalty, all the good people in the society suffer as a result.”
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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