JUDICIAL MESS:An increasing number of people support a pardon for the ex-president, while one Academia Sinica historian said Chen’s contributions outweighed his misdeeds
Taipei Times
Date: Jul 05, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
Sixty-five groups yesterday joined a petition calling for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to
Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-sen speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday for a petition signed by 65 groups calling for former president Chen Shui-bian to be pardoned. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
be pardoned, providing a boost to a campaign that has been brewing ever since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) regained power last year.
A coalition of Taiwanese independence activists, a lawmaker and academics have called for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to amend the Amnesty Act (赦免法) to clear the way for Chen to be pardoned, as amnesty cannot be granted to those who have trails still pending in court.
The former president served more than six years of a 20-year sentence for corruption before being released on medical parole in 2015, but he still faces other criminal charges.
The petition is the latest of a series launched by DPP city and county councilors nationwide to lodge a formal proposal to be voted on in the DPP national congress in September. [FULL STORY]
