The Transitional Justice Commission has overturned criminal charges against 12 people persecuted during the White Terror era, bringing the commission’s total exonerations to 5,874.
Criminal rulings against Lin Chia-tien (林家田), Huang Hua (黃華), Lin Shui-chuan (林水泉), Lu Kuo-min (呂國民), Wu Wen-chiu (吳文就) and Yen Yin-mo (顏尹謨) are to be overturned, with all punitive measures rescinded, and confiscated properties and assets to be returned, the commission said on Tuesday.
Additionally, charges against Huang, Liu Yun-chou (劉運籌), Ma Chih-chien (馬志堅), Ho Chung-li (賀中立), Chao Ko-chi (趙克己), Tu Hsiao-sheng (杜孝生) and Liao Li-chuan (廖立川) have also been overturned, based on Article 6 of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), the commission said.
Huang and late democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) — who set himself on fire in 1989 as police tried to arrest him — had been convicted of sedition, each receiving a 10-year prison sentence.
From 1989 to 1996, Huang was the head of the “New Nation” movement, which called for Taiwanese independence and changing the nation’s official name from the Republic of China (ROC) to include the word “Taiwan.”
He was arrested in 1990 after announcing his intention to run for president, placing billboards along Taipei’s Roosevelt Road that read: “Long live the Republic of Taiwan” and “Taiwan for independence.”
The commission said that Huang was using peaceful means to state his political ideology and arresting him on sedition charges was an overinterpretation of the Punishment of Rebellion Act (懲治叛亂條例), abolished in 1991.
Huang’s arrest was an infringement on his freedoms of speech and thought, and breached the principles of a democratic system, an infringement the commission is attempting to right under the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice, the commission said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS