President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday approved a special pardon exempting a woman in her 80s convicted of killing her disabled son from imprisonment.
After carefully reviewing the case, Lai pardoned Lin Liu Lung-tzu (林劉龍子) from the prison sentence while acknowledging her conviction, citing the extreme circumstances she faced, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement.
Under Article 3 of the Amnesty Act (赦免法), the two kinds of pardons are exempting an offender from the execution of a punishment or declaring the punishment to be invalid.
Photo: CNA
Kuo said Lin Liu had spent more than 50 years caring for her son, before contracting COVID-19 in April 2023, causing her physical and mental health to deteriorate rapidly.
Facing the intense pressure of dealing with her own health and age problems and being unable to care for her severely disabled son, Lin Liu in May 2023 suffocated her son by covering his mouth and nose with tape, police said.
The Taipei District Court sentenced her to two years, six months imprisonment. The case was finalized on Jan. 16.
The case had drawn significant public attention and widespread sympathy, with the court and several legislators recommending that the president consider a pardon, Kuo said.
The Ministry of Justice concluded that, given the circumstances, there was no practical need to carry out the sentence, and Lai approved the pardon, she said.
Article 40 of the Constitution gives the president the power to grant amnesties, pardons, remissions of sentences and restitution of civil rights.
Lin Liu’s pardon is the ninth special presidential pardon ever issued.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2021 pardoned Tama Talum, a Bunun man who had been sentenced to three-and-a-half years on charges of using a rifle to kill protected species without permission.
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