The rules and conditions governing the nation’s parole system have not been changed, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday, adding that certain inmates have not received special treatment.
The ministry issued the statement in an effort to refute an allegation by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元), who on Thursday circulated a message accusing Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) of working to amend the parole rules in order to secure an early release from prison for Chen Che-nan (陳哲男), a former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general in former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration.
Tsai said that Chen Che-nan’s son, DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), was behind the move.
“Chen Che-nan is serving jail time for corruption and he will be up for parole soon,” Tsai wrote. “To allow the father and son to get together, Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san deliberately sought to relax the parole rules and conditions. By doing so, Chiu would enable many others to hitch onto this bandwagon and then they could gleefully get out of jail as well.”
“Only Chen Chi-mai has such clout to lean on Chiu and [President] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for this magnanimous gesture, to permit such abuse of power,” he added.
Alex Tsai’s reference to “others” was widely interpreted as referring to Chen Shui-bian, who was released on medical parole in January last year after serving six years in prison after he was convicted of corruption.
The ministry yesterday criticized Alex Tsai’s allegation, saying “it was a groundless accusation that had no factual basis.”
“The implemented policy of progressive corrective treatment of the parole system has been used for some time and is being applied to all cases,” the statement said. “There was no alteration in this direction and no changes being made for the benefit of selected inmates.”
It urged the public not to be misled by rumors, that people work together for social harmony, and to put more thought into the plight of victims and inmates.
The ministry said that inmates’ human rights are protected by the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Taiwan became a signatory in 2009.
It said that new measures and reforms have taken place since then, including upgrades to prison facilities, upgrades to inmates’ medical care — including National Health Insurance coverage — more progressive rehabilitation programs, more transparency in the parole system, changes to prison management and family visitation services, and an expansion of the work-release program.
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