Demonstrators in a march on Justice Day yesterday called for the enforcement of the death penalty to protect children’s right to life, ahead of the sentencing in a child abuse trial.
The march was held by children’s rights advocates, along with the National Association of Equality for Life, Taiwan.
Participants gathered on Qingdao E Road before heading to Liberty Square for a sit-in demonstration.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
They chanted “anti-death penalty alliance, get out of Taiwan” when they passed by the operating site of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty on Zhenjiang Street.
Event convener Wallis Chang (張瓦力) said the march was held on Justice Day mainly to call on the court not to give lenient sentences to the defendants charged with child abuse in the case of Kai Kai (剴剴), a one-year-old boy who passed away in 2023.
Chang also called for continued attention to the trial of the social worker involved in Kai Kai’s case on Thursday next week.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) and Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之), Taipei City Councilor Chen Ping-fu (陳炳甫), and actress Sophie Wang (王思佳) also attended the event to express their support.
Wang Hung-wei said the death penalty has been de facto abolished since Constitutional Judgement No. 8 was issued in September 2024, which states that the death penalty is constitutional when the criminality is the most serious of its kind and criminal proceedings are conducted in conformity with the strictest legal requirements of the Constitution.
Citing data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Wu said the rate of child abuse among children aged three or younger in Taiwan increased last year despite declining birthrates.
There could be more child abuse cases like Kai Kai’s remaining hidden, he said, adding that information exchanges, and cooperation between the ministry and policing authorities should be enhanced to identify such cases.
Hung said the law should protect law-abiding citizens — who account for the vast majority of society — rather than criminals, the tiny minority.
“Harsh penalties must be applied in a world full of chaos to safeguard children’s rights,” he said, adding that he would seek expert advice to explore the feasibility of more active punishments, such as whipping, in deterring crimes.
Retired Taiwan Steel University of Science and Technology electrical engineering professor Chang Chieh-neng (張介能), whose wife was sexually assaulted and killed by an unemployed man in Kaohsiung in 2014, said anti-death penalty advocates “base their generosity on victims.”
The defendant in his wife’s case was sentenced to life imprisonment, with prior death sentences overruled in his fourth retrial in October 2024, shortly after Constitutional Judgement No. 8, he said.
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