A German man convicted of drug trafficking in Taiwan was transferred back to his home country on Thursday to serve the remainder of his prison term.
He is the second German national jailed in Taiwan to be transferred to serve the rest of his sentence in his home country since 2013, when the two countries signed an agreement on the transfer of prisoners.
The man was sentenced in 2013 to 16 years in prison and began serving his jail term in Taiwan that same year, a statement released yesterday by the Ministry of Justice said.
After Taiwan and Germany signed the prisoner transfer agreement in November 2013, the inmate filed an application in April 2014 to serve the rest of his prison term in his home country, the ministry said.
His application was approved by the Taiwanese and German judicial authorities after a review of his case, the ministry added.
A German court dealing with the case reduced the original 16-year sentence to 15 years (the maximum term of imprisonment in Germany), the ministry said.
“With the deduction of the time he has served in Taiwan, the man needs to serve about another 12 years in prison after returning to Germany,” the ministry’s statement said.
On Thursday, Taiwanese prosecutors handed the man over to three German police officers, who had traveled to Taiwan to take him back to Germany, it said.
The first transfer of a German prisoner from Taiwan to Germany occurred in February last year.
The transfer of prisoners to their home countries is a humane practice that makes it easier for their family members to visit them and helps them to better integrate back into society upon their release, the ministry said.
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