Internal opposition:Free Taiwan Party Chair Tsay Ting-kuei said some DPP members seemed opposed to pardoning Chen and called for a vote to reveal legislators’ stances
Taipei Times
0Date: Sep 11, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
A coalition of Taiwanese independence groups yesterday joined a petition calling for
Northern Taiwan Society deputy director Lee Chuan-hsin, Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-sen, Taiwan Jury Association chairman Chang Ching, attorney Cheng Wen-lung and Aletheia University Department of Law chair Wu Ching-chin, left to right, attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday calling on President Tsai Ing-wen to facilitate the pardoning of former president Chen Shui-bian. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to be pardoned and urging President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to amend the Amnesty Act (赦免法) to clear legal obstacles for pardon by the end of this year.
The coalition has renewed a campaign to seek amnesty for Chen, who served more than six years of a 20-year sentence for corruption before being released on medical parole in 2015, but still faces other criminal charges.
Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-sen (張葉森) said he believes there were judicial flaws in Chen’s corruption trial, including what he said was false testimony from former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒), as well as Chen’s conviction for having political influence instead of proven criminal acts.
Tsai had promised judicial fairness for Chen before she was elected last year, while Premier William Lai (賴清德) had severeal times called for Chen to be pardoned, Chang said, calling on the two to start the pardon process. [FULL STORY]
