A military court yesterday acquitted Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), who was executed for the rape and murder of a girl 15 years ago, in a posthumous trial.
Chiang was executed in 1997 after being convicted of sexually abusing and murdering a five-year-old girl.
The Military Northern District Court yesterday morning handed down the ruling after the Military Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Office filed an extraordinary appeal with the Military Supreme Court in May last year to reopen the case.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The Military Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s legal action followed findings by the Control Yuan that Chiang had been tortured by military investigators.
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it was the final verdict and it would help Chiang’s family apply for national compensation.
The ministry said the court ruled that Chiang’s statements were made against his will and that the blood-soaked toilet paper and knife used as evidence against Chiang were re-examined by forensic experts, who concluded that they could not prove Chiang’s involvement in the murder.
Shen Shih-wei (沈世偉), an official with the ministry’s Judicial Department, visited Chiang’s mother Wang Tsai-lien (王彩蓮) at her apartment yesterday afternoon and delivered a copy of the ruling.
Wang’s attorney Greg Yo (尤伯祥) and two other attorneys were in the court to hear the ruling.
Yo said Chiang’s family is expected to receive about NT$100 million (US$3.3 million) in compensation.
Yo, who also represented the Judicial Reform Foundation, called on Taipei district prosecutors to quickly complete an investigation into the role and responsibility of former minister of national defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) and other military officers in the wrongful execution.
Yo said Chen was the mastermind behind the botched investigation of Chiang’s case.
In an interview in the morning, Wang said: “I will bring the acquittal ruling to my son and my husband’s shrines.”
She added she would not forgive those military officials responsible and wanted to see the verdicts against former air force counterintelligence official Ko Chung-ching (柯仲慶) and others.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division concluded on May 24 that Chiang, who was serving in the air force command in 1996 at the time of the murder, was not guilty of the crime.
Chiang was executed at the age of 21.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has since charged a new suspect, Hsu Jung-chou (許榮洲), with the girl’s murder.
Prosecutors said Chiang was tortured during questioning, including exposure to strong lights and being forced to watch a video of the girl’s autopsy. He was also threatened with an electric prod and deprived of sleep while being forced to undergo strenuous physical activities.
Prosecutors said Hsu left bloody palm prints at the scene of the crime, which a DNA test confirmed were his.
Hsu’s case is pending in the Taipei District Court.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
RSS