Taipei Prison rejected an application for parole by the "Hwakang Wolf" (
Huang Cheng-nan (黃徵男), director of the Ministry of Justice's Department of Corrections (矯正司), said yesterday that the Taipei Prison's nine-member Parole Committee reviewed the rapist's application on Tuesday and voted five to four in favor of keeping him behind bars for another year.
The "Hwakang Wolf," surnamed Yang (
Yang is serving his term in Taipei Prison.
He participated in the Joint College Entrance Exam (JCEE) last summer and gained admission to the Sociology Department at NTU.
His first parole application was turned down last year due to public fears that he may reoffend.
But Yang managed to gain a one-year leave from the department to keep his admission valid for another year.
According to NTU, Yang's leave of absence will expire this September and he must be enrolled and pay the tuition fee this fall to become a freshman or he will lose his admission.
Despite the rejection of his parole application, Yang's hope of becoming an NTU student has not completely vanished.
He is still allowed to pay the tuition fee this fall and file a drop-out application for another year, provided he can secure the approval of Taipei Prison and the justice ministry.
"According to the Taipei Prison psychologists, Yang has made tremendous progress during his mental rehabilitation regarding his violent behavior against women," Huang said.
"But, they also believe that it is very possible that Yang could easily commit crimes again. As a result, the committee decided to keep him behind bars for at least another year."
In the meantime, Huang mentioned that the ministry is still trying to see if Yang's case falls under Article 26-1 of the Law on the Execution of Prison Punishment (監獄行刑法), which would grant him a day out of prison under the custody of guards to go to NTU and finish the necessary paperwork for the one-year drop-out application.
"We still encourage him to go for further study. If he fits the regulation, he will need to wait for final approval from the ministry," Huang added.
Last year, 33 prisoners from jails nationwide gained admittance to universities out of the 38 who took the JCEE last summer.
Among them, 14, including Yang, gained admission to national universities.
Another inmate, surnamed Huang (
Huang was sentenced to life in prison 12 years ago for a gang robbery.
NTU said that Huang did an OK job on his academic work and got along well with his fellow students throughout the past year.
"No matter what background our students have, we'll try our best to help. Huang did well," said Wen Chen-yuan (
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and