Pan-blue and pan-green legislators pointed fingers at each other yesterday over a professor believed to have been beaten to death on Monday by an amnestied prisoner.
Yang Chen-tang (
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday slammed President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the Ministry of Justice for granting commutation to inmates without first formulating a "complete set of policies to help them rehabilitate," while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said the KMT should be blamed for increasing the scope of the amnesty.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The DPP caucus was referring to the commutation bill proposed by the Cabinet which originally called for the amnesty of inmates sentenced to less than one year in prison.
An additional 2,800 inmates qualified for the commutation after the KMT's version of the bill, which included inmates sentenced to up to 18 months, passed the legislature.
DPP Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (
"Instead of being properly prepared [for the amnesty], [Chen] released many prisoners at one time and for far-fetched reasons," he said, referring to Chen's idea to make the commutation coincide with the 20th anniversary of the lifting of the martial law era. "Even the police are deeply worried [about the possible consequences]."
KMT Legislator Justin Chou (
In a separate setting yesterday, Chen urged the public to refrain from thwarting the will of most ex-convicts who want to make up for their wrongs, saying that Hsieh's death was an isolated case.
Chen, however, added that attention must be paid to cases that happened after the July 16 amnesty and said an assessment must be conducted.
A former political prisoner during the KMT regime, Chen encouraged ex-convicts to put their past behind them and look to the future.
A total of 9,597 inmates were released on July 16 -- the first day the commutation took effect. Among those benefiting from the statute were prisoners convicted on charges of minor crimes such as illegal drug possession, burglary, theft and fraud.
As a college classmate and a former colleague of Hsieh when he taught at NTU, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday expressed his condolences to Hsieh's family and urged the government to reconsider the policy. Hau also lashed out at the government's commutation program, saying that it has added a large burden to the workload of local law enforcement.
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"I think the government should now focus on the rehabilitation efforts. Otherwise it will turn a good policy into a bad one," he said.
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