The mother of a four-year-old girl who was killed in an attack in Taipei has been invited to join a preparatory committee for judicial reform.
Wang Wan-yu (王婉諭), whose daughter was beheaded in an attack in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) on March 28, yesterday said that she hopes her participation, along with 16 other people, in judicial reform could bring positive changes.
“Although I am not adept at unfamiliar situations and have never liked public appearances, I have decided to step out of my comfort zone and accept the appointment,” Wang said on Facebook yesterday.
Wang said she decided to accept the appointment because, “first, I believe our society really needs to hear different voices. From there we might develop sympathy and respect for each other.”
“Second, in the past people felt that the justice system did not respect victims of crime. Maybe by participating in judicial reform, it could be possible for our hope to be realized,” Wang added.
Wang said that after the death of her daughter, she and her husband had thought about leaving Taiwan, “but we decided to stay, because here we have family and friends who love us. It is because we still have expectations that society can improve.”
Wang’s daughter, nicknamed Little Lightbulb, was killed by a man in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) in March.
After witnessing the decapitation of her daughter, Wang appealed for reasonable, rational public dialogue about the nation’s criminal justice system and debate over capital punishment.
Her remarks came one day after the Presidential Office announced the preparatory committee members, which is to be headed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), with prominent sociologist Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源) and Judicial Yuan President Hsu Zhong-li (許宗力) serving as deputy conveners.
The committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Friday.
Other members of the committee, which consists of legal and non-legal professionals, include Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), Legal Aid Foundation (法律扶助基金會) chairman Law Bing-ching (羅秉成), Academia Sinica Institutum Iurisprudentiae head Lin Tzu-yi (林子儀), former grand justice Hsu Yu-hsiu (許玉秀), National Chengchi University law professor Yang Yun-hua (楊雲驊), Soochow University law professor Nigel Lee (李念祖) and National Association of Deaf legal adviser Lee Cheng-hui (李振輝).
Other appointees include TAIFEX (台灣期貨交易所) chairman Liu Lian-yu (劉連煜), Cite Media Holding Group (城邦媒體集團) chief executive officer Ho Fei-peng (何飛鵬), Business Today (今周刊) president Andy Liang (梁永煌), Taiwan Renewable Energy Alliance managing director Kao Ju-ping (高茹萍), Transparency International Taiwan Office board member Tsai Hsiu-chuan (蔡秀涓) and Soochow University political science professor Shiow-Duan Hwang (黃秀端).
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