Four people on death row were executed yesterday evening, the Ministry of Justice announced last night.
The ministry made the announcement after the four people were shot with pistols at 7:30pm at four different prisons.
The four had been given death sentences and were executed in accordance with the law, the ministry said.
The four were Chang Wen-wei (張文蔚), Ko Shih-ming (柯世銘), Chang Wei-long (張慰龍) and Hong Chen-yao (洪晨耀).
Chang Wen-wei was given a death sentence for the kidnapping and murder of a 16-year-old in Taichung County. He committed the crime while he was out on parole.
Ko had been handed two death sentences for killing a man in a business dispute in Tainan County, as well as a woman who witnessed the murder.
Chang Wei-long kidnapped his friend’s seven-year-old daughter in Taoyuan County and murdered her after he was paid a ransom.
Hong was found guilty of murdering three people over debt disputes in Hsinchu County. He told police he killed them because he was upset.
Until yesterday’s executions, the Ministry of Justice had not approved an execution since December 2005.
Saying that Taiwan is a country of law and order where all procedures are conducted in accordance with the law, Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) last night said there must be a legal base for a stay of execution, otherwise the Ministry of Justice should proceed according to the law.
More discussion is needed before the public reaches a consensus on whether the death penalty should be abolished, he said.
The issue of abolishing the death penalty came to the fore in March when then-minister of justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) openly stated her objections to capital punishment and said she would not approve any executions as minister. Her statements led to public criticism, especially by victims’ families and opposition legislators and Wang later resigned.
New Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) has said he would approve the executions of prisoners on death row if they have exhausted the appeals process.
In view of the controversial issue, the ministry recently held hearings to gather the public’s opinions on the matter.
At a hearing held in Banciao (板橋), Taipei County, on April 21, Tseng said the ministry would review the cases of all 44 inmates now on death row, and exhaust all relief measures before carrying out any executions.
“Carrying out the death sentences will not drag to the end of this year,” Tseng said at the time.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STANDING TOGETHER: Amid China’s increasingly aggressive activities, nations must join forces in detecting and dealing with incursions, a Taiwanese official said Two senior Philippine officials and one former official yesterday attended the Taiwan International Ocean Forum in Taipei, the first high-level visit since the Philippines in April lifted a ban on such travel to Taiwan. The Ocean Affairs Council hosted the two-day event at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Coast Guard spokesman Grand Commodore Jay Tarriela and former Philippine Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Michel del Rosario participated in the forum. More than 100 officials, experts and entrepreneurs from 15 nations participated in the forum, which included discussions on countering China’s hybrid warfare
MORE DEMOCRACY: The only solution to Taiwan’s current democratic issues involves more democracy, including Constitutional Court rulings and citizens exercising their civil rights , Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not the “motherland” of the Republic of China (ROC) and has never owned Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. The speech was the third in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to deliver across Taiwan. Taiwan is facing external threats from China, Lai said at a Lions Clubs International banquet in Hsinchu. For example, on June 21 the army detected 12 Chinese aircraft, eight of which entered Taiwanese waters, as well as six Chinese warships that remained in the waters around Taiwan, he said. Beyond military and political intimidation, Taiwan
RSS