The Tsai Ing-wen administration executed its second capital punishment on April 1. The Ministry of Justice stressed that the execution was fully carried out in accordance with the law. However, the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty blasted the Tsai administration for the two executions, saying the executions were carried out without judicial relief.


Weng Jen-hsien was executed on the 1st for setting fire to his home and killing six people. This was the Tsai Ing-wen administration's second execution. The first took place in 2018.

We never had a timetable for the execution, so this had nothing to do with the pandemic. At the same time, when we were making the decision we thought it should be carried out within a necessary timeframe.

The Ministry of Justice says the execution was carried out in accordance with the law, but the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty said the government basically murdered a clown on April Fool's Day while hiding behind the goodwill it has acquired for its success in COVID-19 prevention.

Weng Jen-hsien did not request an appeal, extraordinary appeal, constitutional interpretation or amnesty. However, the Ministry of Justice was obligated to review the case and assess this person's mental state to determine whether capital punishment was appropriate. This was also a responsibility endowed upon us by the convention.

As both executions were carried out without judicial relief, they differed from other criminal cases that included extraordinary appeals. A lawyer who is a former judge says the combination of the execution and the COVID-19 pandemic will serve to deter crimes.

Everyone's nerves are already shot due to the pandemic, which could lead to social chaos. The government could be counting on the execution to be a deterrent (against crimes).

Another expert that spoke on condition of anonymity said the Ministry of Justice's order for the execution was an announcement to citizens that Taiwan stands behind capital punishment. In addition, Taiwan will benefit from European nations that care about human rights not having the time to react or respond to the execution due to the state of crisis in Europe right now.



翁仁賢已遭法務部1號晚間，執行槍決，加上殺死前妻、擄走6歲長女燒炭，已在2018年伏法的李宏基，蔡英文政府任內、已進行2名死刑犯槍決。

法務部次長 陳明堂表示：「執行的部分，我們本來就沒有時間表，所以這個跟疫情也無關，那只是說，在決定的時候，認為說，有必要的時間內，就做處理。」

法務部強調，一切依法執行，但人權團體「廢死聯盟」批評，宣稱逐步廢死是終極目標的中華民國，在防疫有成、支持度高漲的時刻，卻執行死刑，有如國家在愚人節，殺掉了小丑。

廢死聯盟執行長 林欣怡表示：「翁仁賢他的確沒有要求再審，非常上訴，釋憲或特赦這些，沒有，可是法務部依照他們自己的職權，他本來就應該要來審核說，那這個人的精神狀況，到底適不適合執行死刑，這也是公約賦予我們的一個責任。」

由於蔡政府槍決的兩案，都未進行司法救濟，和其他要求非常上訴等救濟的死刑犯，情形大不同，曾任司法官的律師認為，武漢肺炎疫情嚴重，加上日前接連發生隨機殺人案，人心浮動，執行死刑，多少有嚇阻犯罪的考量。

律師 張進豐表示：「疫情緊張，人心惶惶，會不會大家人心浮動，社會秩序會比較亂，那執行個死刑的話，會說，有嚇阻的作用。」

也有法界人士私下表示，法務部執行死刑，就是要向國人宣告，台灣沒有廢死，也認為，重視人權的歐盟國家，目前忙於防疫，對台灣執行槍決的關注度，有可能減低。