Supreme Court Denies Retrial for Taiwan’s Oldest Death Row Inmate
Taiwan's court of final appeal has denied a retrial for the country's oldest prisoner on death row, 74-year-old Wang Xin-fu. Human rights activists fighting for his release say Wang's case was mishandled.
REPORTER:
Anti-death penalty groups stand together in Taipei, joining a fight to bring Taiwan’s oldest death row inmate, Wang Xin-fu, home.
Wang, who’s now 74 years-old, was found guilty of killing two police officers in 1990 and was sentenced to death nearly 15 years ago.
But these groups believe his trial was botched.
The Control Yuan has asked a polygraph expert to re-interpret the original chart. The expert assessed that Wang Xin-fu didn’t show deceptive reactions.
The second thing is that police seized a revolver but when the Criminal Investigation Bureau analyzed it for fingerprints, the records showed a different kind of revolver.
Wang’s lawyer has asked the court to reopen the case. But the court says the application is not strong enough to warrant a retrial.
Upon reviewing the new evidence alleged by the appellant, the court found that it didn’t meet the criteria for retrial with newly found evidence and dismissed the application.
Dissatisfied with this decision, the appellant appealed to this court.
After review, this court finds the application ruling legal. There’s no reason that justifies an appeal, so the dismissal was final.
Wang is just one of 35 inmates on death row. Some of them have been behind bars for over three decades.
In 2024, Taiwan’s constitutional court ruled the death penalty ‘partly unconstitutional’ and only applicable for the most serious crimes.
One death row inmate has been given the chance for retrial since the ruling came out.
But this latest ruling means Wang will continue to live under the shadow of death until execution day.
Hank Hsu and Irene Lin for TaiwanPlus.
