The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) yesterday defended Taiwan’s execution of four death row inmates last Friday, saying that respecting mainstream public opinion is a key democratic practice.
Responding to condemnation from German authorities over the executions, Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) said “Germany has Germany’s point of view, Taiwan has it own. Both societies are different.”
“Taiwan is a democracy that adheres to the rule of law. The Ministry of Justice values mainstream public opinion and carried out the executions in accordance with democratic principles and the rule of law,” the minister said.
Tseng said the MOJ would try to explain Taiwan’s position to Germany and other countries that had expressed disappointment through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said the MOJ contacted the Council of Grand Justices at noon on Friday. It was informed that Ko Shih-ming (柯世銘) and the other three death row inmates had not applied for constitutional interpretations and carried out the executions later that day.
The procedure was not flawed, he said.
Four death row inmates — Ko, Chang Wen-wei (張文蔚), Chang Wei-long (張慰龍) and Hong Chen-yao (洪晨耀) — were executed at three different prisons at 7:30pm on Friday.
The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) had filed two separate applications with the Council of Grand Justices on behalf of death row inmates.
Meanwhile, actress-turned-prison-counselor Angela Ying (應曉薇) yesterday told reporters that in addition to talking about human rights, it is also important to respect the wishes of death row inmates. Some actually want to be executed she said, because they consider that the best way to express their remorse.
For some, living is torture, said Ying, a councilor at Taipei Prison who has counseled many prisoners, including several death row inmates.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson at Taipei Prison said there had been no discernible change in the behavior of the other 16 death row inmates at the prison since learning about the executions from local media.
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