The Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) held a press conference yesterday to praise convicts who had passed the necessary exams to become college students. He also encouraged all inmates to keep studying and to mentally enrich themselves continually.
"It's a brand new start for you," the minister said. "Being able to return to school for more education is a precious gift and I hope that you can change your temperament and learn more professional skills by studying."
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Inmates from Taipei Prison, Tainan Prison, Hualien Prison and Taichung Girls' Prison will become college students this semester amid debate as to whether society is prepared to accept them as students.
Thirty-three prisoners gained admittance to universities out of the 38 who have registered for the Joint College Entrance Exam this year. Among them, 14 will enroll at national universities.
Two NTU freshmen -- one surnamed Yang and known as the "Hwakang Wolf" (華崗之狼), and one surnamed Huang -- were both absent.
Yang's parole has been denied and he will receive leave of absence from the school for a year. Huang will attend classes at NTU but he was absent yesterday to avoid being interviewed by the press.
Huang said he told the press everything they needed to know on the day when he first knew for sure that he would be going to NTU. He said that at the moment he just wanted to cool down and prepare for his new life.
The Ministry of Justice will assign Huang a parole officer to assist him with all his needs.
Speaking on Yang's case, the justice minister said that he was "was involved in more than 30 sexual harassment or rape cases. The doctor said his mental problems would not be cured easily and the problems are out of his control, also."
"He needs to receive the proper medical treatment continuously and that makes him unqualified for parole this year," the minister added.
Stone Lin (林建隆), who was a gangster himself but is now an associate professor at the English Department of Soochow University (東吳大學), said that it was necessary to encourage these people who previously had made mistakes in their lives.
"Many people thought these criminals tried very hard to pass the exam and enroll in colleges to get out of jail," Lin said. "It is way wrong! Actually, these prisoners are still required to stay in jail until they are qualified to apply for parole. That's also the bottom line for them when they take the entrance exam. Usually, nearly 60 period of the parole cases will be approved if the prisoner did not make any mistake during his or her sentence period. This means the prisoners don't necessarily need to take the exam to regain freedom. All she or he needs to do is simply wait."
Lin also said that he believes the "Hwakang Wolf" would not do anything illegal if he is released, "because everybody is watching him, especially the media."
"The justice system is what we should examine and think about. For example, if the Ministry of Justice refused Yang parole because of his uncompleted sentence, then, why didn't the government finish its job before he was qualified for the parole application?"
Vice Minister of Justice Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said the inmates have received overwhelming attention from the media and he thinks that this is wrong.
"We should try to protect their privacy as well," said Chen Tung-sheng (陳東升), chairman of NTU's Sociology Department. "Too much attention will hinder them. Maybe we should encourage them in an environment of more privacy."
Officials from the ministry's Correctional System division said they may not provide names at all in the future. Only the total number of inmates who gained the admittance may in future be released to the press.
Chen also said that it is difficult to say whether it is a good thing to encourage these inmates in public or not.
"We will treat and help each of our students fairly, no matter what kind of background she or he might have," Chen said.
According to an official from the Ministry of Justice who wishes to remain anonymous, many prisoners who attend colleges are not trying to hide from what they have done in the past. However, they are afraid that what they have done in the past will be over-exaggerated.
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