The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court on Thursday reduced a Chinese man’s jail sentence from 26 years to 13 for allegedly ordering the killing of suspected pirates while captain of a Taiwanese vessel in 2012.
Wang Fengyu (汪峰裕) was arrested on Aug. 22, 2020, after the ship he was captain of at that time, the Seychelles-flagged Indian Star, docked at the Port of Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung prosecutors in October that year charged Wang with homicide and contraventions of the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) for the alleged killing of four suspected pirates.
In January last year, the Kaohsiung District Court found Wang guilty of the charges and sentenced him to 26 years imprisonment.
Wang appealed the case, but the High Court in May last year upheld the sentence. He filed another appeal with the Supreme Court, which found discrepancies in the evidence presented, and it in August last year ordered the High Court’s Kaohsiung branch to re-examine the case for a retrial.
On Thursday, the High Court said the evidence only showed that Wang had ordered the killing of one suspected pirate, not four, and reduced his sentence to 13 years. The court said it also considered in its ruling the serious security issues related to the incident taking place at sea.
The ruling can still be appealed.
The incident occurred on Sept. 29, 2012, aboard the Kaohsiung-registered Ping Shin No. 101 while it was operating in the Indian Ocean off Somalia.
Wang was hired by a Kaohsiung company to serve as acting captain of the Ping Shin in 2011, court documents showed.
The vessel was operating about 595km southeast of Mogadishu when it, along with the Kaohsiung-registered Chun I No. 217 and two other unidentified fishing boats, were allegedly fired upon by a vessel crewed by four suspected pirates, court documents showed.
One of the fishing boats rammed the attacking vessel, which capsized, depositing the crew in the water. Wang allegedly instructed two Pakistani crew members he hired to shoot the men in the water, it showed.
The killings became public two years later in August 2014 when a 10-minute video clip of the shootings was circulated online, after a smartphone believed to have filmed the shootings was found in a taxi in Fiji and an anonymous person uploaded the video to YouTube.
In the clip, a man believed to be the captain is heard giving orders in Mandarin with a Chinese accent over a loudspeaker to the crew, as 40 rounds of live ammunition are fired.
The four men in the water are shot one by one, with the video showing the water turning red around them. No images of the shooters are seen.
Although Wang is Chinese and the crime occurred in the Indian Ocean, prosecutors said they were able to charge him in Taiwan because the shootings originated on a Taiwanese vessel.
In the indictment, Wang allegedly told prosecutors that he was involved in “tracking down pirates,” but said the shootings were in “self-defense.”
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS