The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday accused President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration of failing to deliver on its promises of judicial reform and implementing a social safety net.
The party issued the remarks following the passing on Thursday night of the father of Lee Cheng-han (李承翰), the 25-year-old railway officer killed in July last year.
The attacker, surnamed Cheng (鄭), who was charged in the slaying of Lee, was acquitted by the Chiayi District Court in late April, on the grounds of mental incapacity.
Photo: CNA
Upon hearing the ruling, Lee’s father, Lee Tseng-wen (李增文), called the verdict “outrageous.”
“My son was killed in the line of duty and the court gave a not guilty ruling. It is painful for me. The judges have lost their sense and reason,” he said.
Prosecutors and the Lee family are appealing the ruling.
Lee Tseng-wen was hospitalized on Thursday morning and diagnosed with gastrointestinal bleeding.
He passed away that night.
Tsai has not lived up to her promise to “plug the hole” in the social safety net after the murder in 2016 of a four-year-old girl, nicknamed “Little Lightbulb,” KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) wrote on Facebook yesterday, referring to the daughter of New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭).
Citing a KMT public opinion poll on Tsai’s performance over the past four years, Chiang said that the president received the lowest score for judicial reform among the 11 items listed.
While the Tsai administration held a national conference on the issue in 2016, which produced a sprawling 153-page report, the poll indicated that Tsai’s judicial reforms have failed to impress the public, bringing only further disappointment, he said.
Proposed amendments to the Act Governing the Use of Police Weapons (警械使用條例), the Mental Health Act (精神衛生法), the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) and the Criminal Code, as well as victim protection and how many social workers could visit people with mental disorders, should be thoroughly reviewed and discussed side by side, as the laws and availability of social workers are closely tied to implementing a social safety net program, he said.
Failure to address the issue would signify society failing Lee Cheng-han and its inability to prevent future tragedies, he said.
“Justice delayed is not justice, nor is justice that is never forthcoming,” he added.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee Director Alicia Wang (王育敏) urged Tsai to expedite reforms, saying it was saddening that the government could not protect the lives of police offices and the nation’s judicial system could not render justice.
Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said that Tsai had instructed the Ministry of the Interior to offer Lee Tseng-wen’s widow any assistance she needs, and Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) to visit the family and extend her condolences.
Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) said the Cabinet had passed proposed amendments to the Act Governing the Use of Police Weapons and would forward them to the Legislative Yuan.
One amendment proposes that police officers on duty, if not equipped with or unable to effectively use standard-issue equipment, may use items around them.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
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