Activists and the families of the Hsichih Trio said that they had nothing to be happy about, even with the announcement that the the three men on death row were to face a retrial.
Su Chuen-chang (
"I am afraid that my father probably won't be able to see my brother come out of jail an innocent man," said Su's other son, Su Jian-wen (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Su's physician has stopped providing any medicine to treat his lung cancer, and Su is only able to stay alive with the aid of a tube to help him breathe.
"He has sustained himself for my brother's sake for over nine years. But now the pain is so sharp that he cannot stand it any more," Su Jian-wen said.
The team formed to secure the freedom of the Hsichih Trio also seemed less-than-happy with the news.
"We cannot feel happy," said Sue Wang (
Speaking at a press conference yesterday along with the Trio's defense counsel, Wang stressed that the retrial was a step in the right direction.
"The Trio has awaited a fair judgement in vain for nine years," Wang said. "But we really hope that the retrial will look anew at the case."
The Trio's defense counsel, Su Yue-chen (蘇友辰), called yesterday's news "the first time the the judiciary has ever been fair to the Trio" and appealed to the court to "be fair a second time and acquit them soon."
The Trio's defense expressed their hope that the court would refute past judgements and would hand down "a fair, serious and fast judgement."
Moreover, they also emphasized they would not rule out any options to help the Trio, including an appeal to the president for clemency.
"Based on the past disappointment with the judicial system, I don't know how much we can trust it now with a retrial," said Ku Yu-chen (
"The Trio can't wait for another nine years," she said. Two of the Trio, Liu Bing-lang (
"I expect the judge in charge of the retrial will be different from the past ones and really listen to what the Trio have to say," said Chuang's mother, Chen Kuei-tan (
"My son is going out of his mind. He cannot stand the false accusations any more," she sobbed.
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