Sat, Nov 18, 2000 page2

• Mourners bid activist farewell

  The father of Su Chien-ho, one of the Hsichih Trio, single-handedly pioneered changes in Taiwan's criminal procedure law while fighting to get his son exonerated

  • By Liu Shao-hua / STAFF REPORTER
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  The funeral of Su Chuen-chang (蘇春長), the 53-year-old father of Hsichih Trio inmate Su Chien-ho (蘇建和),was held yesterday with around 100 mourners attending to bid a final farewell to the man dubbed by human rights activists "the launcher of the Trio's rescue mission."

  Messages of condolence sent by Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), the former minister of justice Cheng Chung-mo (城仲模), Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou(馬英九) and dozens of lawmakers were displayed at the service.

  

  Su Chien-ho's mother, Huang Yueh-nu, kneels yesterday at a public memorial service for her husband and gives thanks to friends who have provided many years of support by showing concern for her son's case.

  PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  The funeral committee, chaired by renowned writer Po Yang (柏楊), included many celebrities. Po Yang read the eulogy, "Su was more than simply a great father. He was an extraordinary human rights campaigner."

  

  The elder sister of Liu Bing-lang -- one of the Hsichih Trio -- with her daughter watches the live broadcast of the retrial of the three men outside the court room at the Taiwan High Court yesterday morning.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMESN

  Su Chien-wen (蘇建文) read a final letter from his jailed brother, Su Chien-ho, to his father. "You were very tired because of working for me and for justice. It's time for you to rest in peace," he read. "How lucky I am to be your son."

  "I'll follow your teachings and am convinced that I can go home an innocent son," he continued.

  Hope for the Trio has been given a boost by the long-awaited commencement of their retrial on Thursday, said human rights activists. The activists have called for precisely such a retrial since 1995. The Trio -- Su Chien-ho, Liu Bin-lang (劉秉郎), and Chuang Lin-hsun (莊林勳) -- were convicted and sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of a Hsichih, Taipei County couple.

  "Without the elder Su's initiatives in the rescue mission over the years, the Trio would have been executed," Chen Chen-kan (陳振淦), an activist said.

  Because of the controversies surrounding their conviction, the Trio's case has become Taiwan's most frequently cited case in campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty. Four justice ministers who have served while the three have been on death row have expressed reservations about executing the trio.

  The case of the Hsichih Trio case has become "a nightmare" for the judiciary, according to Lee Mao-sheng (李茂生), a professor of law at National Taiwan University.

  Indeed, a number of significant changes in the criminal justice system have been made since the "rescue" campaign began. Amendments made to criminal procedure law in 1997 and 1998 have provided more protection for criminal suspects.

  First among these changes is the requirement that interrogations of defendants should be audio- and video-recorded to prevent law enforcement officials from forcing defendants to confess by means of duress, or torture.

  Confessions extracted by forceful means are not admissible as evidence against the defendants.

  Among other things, a confession, which used to be the most powerful evidence, counts for less under the amendments. In fact, the Judicial Yuan has been reviewing the possibility that statements made by the defendant during police interrogation should not be used as evidence against him or her at trial.

  Nigel Li (李念祖), an associate professor at Soochow University, said the Hsichih Trio case should teach the notion of the presumption of innocence and establish the requirement for solid evidence to convict a person.

  "Under the current system, it seems that the day the defendants are charged, they have been presumed guilty and have to prove that they are not. It's very unreasonable since it's the accusing party that has to prove [guilt]," he said.

  The campaign to free the Trio, which led to these legal changes, was carried out almost single-handedly by the elder Su before former state prosecutor-general, Chen Han (陳涵), filed three extraordinary appeals to the Supreme Court on the Trio's behalf of which none were upheld.

  Chen Han's appeals led human rights activists to turn their attention to the controversial case and led to their efforts, starting in 1995, to rescue the Trio. Hundreds of thousands of people, Amnesty International and the convener of the President's Advisory Group on Cross-Strait Relations, Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), have been involved in demonstrations and appeals to both current President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to call for clemency for the Trio.

  "Many people joined in the rescue activities, became frustrated and left. Then other people came," said Ku Yu-chen (顧玉珍), secretary-general of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (台灣人權促進會). It was Su, Ku said, who kept the activities going over the past 10 years. Su worked alone to rescue the Trio for the first five years of his campaign.

  Su, who had only a third grade education, did not know how to write complaints or requests when the trial began.

  To launch his rescue effort, he simply copied the press cuttings and all the documents he could gather from the prosecutors and the courts, and waited in front of National Taiwan University to deliver them to law scholars and send them to reporters.

  Su's closet and drawers in his bedroom were not full of clothes, but piled high with copies of documents related to the Trio. "I slept with the case every night," he once said.

  "He adopted the most simple and humble means of raising public awareness of the Hsichih Trio case," said Eve Lee (李慧宜), a reporter and former human rights worker who first met Su in 1995.

  Lee said Su tried his best to provide materials to anyone who showed concern for the case and delivered handouts and explained the case to people in the streets.

  Many reporters at the time received a brown paper envelope full of copies of press cuttings signed, "Su Chuen-chang."

  Tsai Tsung-lung (蔡崇隆), an investigative reporter who has produced documentary videos -- the latest one called Formosa Homicide Chronicle (島國殺人紀事) -- on the Hsichih Trio case received one of the packages when he was working as a reporter at Super TV (超視).

  "The materials were useful for me, giving me clues to the controversy surrounding the case," Tsai said.

  Many human rights activists connected with Su recall their impressions of the man and highlight both his persistence and his ideas for improving the judicial system.

  It was a father's desire to save his son that motivated Tsai in the beginning. "But the reason I was able to keep it up was my conviction about the need to improve Taiwan's judicial system. Otherwise, I would have given up a long time ago," Tsai said.

  "Su taught me that social movements demand not talent, but people with persistence," Ku said.

  "He showed us an example that ordinary people can influence society with unexpected potential if they have an inclination to reason rather than harbor resentment," said presidential consultant Peter Huang (黃文雄).

  "The last 10 years of his life can be epitomized not only by his rescue efforts on behalf of his son but also by his campaign to improve Taiwan's judicial system," human rights activists said.
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