The decision by Taiwan's justice ministry to carry out the first execution in the country since 2020 has attracted support and condemnation from a range of lawmakers and rights groups. It's also the first death sentence to be carried out since the Constitutional Court ruled last September that the scope of capital punishment should be narrowed and reserved for the most extreme cases.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Taiwan has executed its first prisoner in almost five years, igniting fierce discussion
00:05both in support of and against the death penalty.
00:09Rhys Ayres is live at Taiwan's Justice Ministry.
00:11Rhys, how are people reacting to this decision to carry out Taiwan's seldom-used death penalty?
00:17Well, a huge range of reactions coming in, Jeremy, from across the political spectrum,
00:25both domestically and abroad, all in reaction to this rather sudden decision to execute
00:31a man by firing squad.
00:33That's a man who's been on death row since 2017 in a double murder and rape case a few
00:39years earlier.
00:40We've got joint statements from human rights groups here in Taiwan denouncing the execution,
00:46saying that it only serves to sow distrust in the government, that it makes society more
00:52bloodthirsty.
00:53We've even got the European Union chiming in, saying that they hope that Taiwan can
00:58very quickly apply and maintain a de facto moratorium on capital punishment.
01:04And also a very strongly worded statement from Amnesty International.
01:08They say that it's a shocking and cruel development, that it's a huge setback for human rights
01:14here in Taiwan, that it violates the constitution, and that also it ignores an appeal filed by
01:21that inmate's lawyer to stop the execution, that it was carried out with just a few hours'
01:27notice, and that it also urges the government to immediately halt any other plans that they
01:33have to carry out any other executions.
01:38Now on the other side, we've got a lot of lawmakers here in Taiwan supporting this decision
01:43across the political spectrum, saying it was carried out according to the law and in line
01:48with the constitution.
01:50It was supported by unanimous votes from judges, and that there was nothing legally
01:55stopping this decision being made.
01:58With even President Lai Ching-de coming out today and saying that the Justice Ministry's
02:03decision was a correct one.
02:20Now, for context, Taiwan's death penalty has been used very sparingly in the last decade
02:33or so.
02:34It was only used twice under the previous administration.
02:37That was the Tsai Ing-wen administration, and it was only last September that Taiwan's
02:42constitutional court ruled it only partially constitutional, saying that its scope should
02:47be narrowed and used only in the most extreme cases.
02:52But with the practice still enjoying a lot of public support here in Taiwan, around 80
02:57percent or more of the public support it, and with this execution and it coming just
03:02a few days after another death sentence was upheld, it seems that the death penalty is
03:08very much still on the table here in Taiwan.