The Transitional Justice Commission last week overturned the guilty verdict of a former mechanic court-martialed 47 years ago, saying that the original ruling contravened the principles of criminal law.
Chen Wen-chiung (陳文炯) was court-martialed in 1974 for insulting a commanding officer, which at that time contravened Article 75 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法), and was sentenced to less than three years in prison. The act has since been amended, moving such an offense to a different article.
During the review, Chen told the commission that he was employed as a mechanic at the Joint Logistics Command’s Factory 44, and although considered a subordinate of the factory commander, he was not serving in the military.
Chen said that he was taken to the Joint Logistics Command by the military police and was alone during the trial, adding that he was detained for four months before they read him his verdict.
Trial documents showed that Chen was accused of having a tendency of slacking off and often taking leave, and had used an expletive when demanding an answer from the factory commander, surnamed Yen (晏), on June 8, 1974.
Openly insulting a commander undermines the chain of command and should be appropriately punished to prevent similar occurrences, the documents said.
The commission said that the court martial used Article 75 of the act simply because it was procedurally applicable, while ignoring that Chen was not a member of the military, which contravened the principles of criminal law.
Court martialing should not apply to anyone outside of serving military personnel, as clearly stated in Article 9 of the Constitution, the commission said.
While articles 8 and 9 of the Martial Law Act (戒嚴法) provided an exception, it only allowed people outside the military to be tried under military law for certain offenses, but did not extend the military court’s jurisdiction over substantive law, the commission said.
The court’s verdict was delivered without prior investigation to substantiate the charges, and based on the conditions described in the court martial, the expletive Chen used should not be considered an act of defamation, but rather an emotional outburst, the commission said.
The incident is another example of an authoritarian government seeking to secure its rule, oppressing any dissent and preventing people from developing individuality, the commission said.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
Actress Hu Ling (胡伶) on Saturday became the first Chinese movie star to walk the red carpet of the Golden Horse Awards since 2019, when China boycotted Taiwan’s biggest awards show over political tensions. Beijing banned its entertainers from joining the awards, dubbed the Chinese-language Oscars, after documentary director Fu Yu (傅榆) voiced support for Taiwan’s formal independence in an acceptance speech in 2018. There were no films from China in the 2019 nomination list and several Hong Kong movies dropped out that year, while several big commercial productions were conspicuously absent at both the 2020 and 2021 awards. However, Hu, nominated for
RSS