Taiwan | Justice Ministry to propose child abuse death penalty bill within 3 months

Taipei, May 22 (CNA) The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) aims to submit a draft bill within three months to increase penalties for child abuse, including the possibility of adding the death penalty for abuse resulting in death.

MOJ Deputy Minister Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) mentioned the three-month timeline during a public hearing held by the Legislative Yuan Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, which was attended by children's advocacy groups and legal experts.

At the hearing, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) law professor Lin Chih-chieh (林志潔) said the law could be changed to allow the death penalty in child abuse cases that result in death.

According to the MOJ, current law already provides the death penalty as the maximum sentence for "intentionally" abusing and killing children.

Li Yu-chun (李侑宭), spokesperson for "Kai Kai online parents group" (剴剴網路爸媽群), said her group proposed six demands, including the creation of a dedicated child protection agency and the introduction of a new offense of "abusive killing of a child" punishable by death or life without parole.

The Judicial Yuan said in a written report that the offense of abusing a young child to death is a result-aggravated crime, not one committed with direct intent.

A recent survey by the Action Alliance on Basic Education found that 92.1 percent of respondents believe current penalties for fatal child abuse are too light and should be increased.

It cited Constitutional Interpretation No. 8 (2024) as stating such offenses do not qualify as the "most serious crimes" and thus cannot be punished by death.

It also warned that increasing the statutory maximum penalty to death could create inconsistencies with Article 271, Paragraph 1 of Taiwan's Criminal Code, which relates to offenses of homicide.

Hsu Ni-ni (徐妮妮), convener of Children Umbrellas (孩想陪你長大聯盟), a child protection advocacy group, said that while current law permits life sentences for abuse resulting in death, the option of parole undermines justice.

Tsai Pei-shan (蔡沛珊), chief prosecutor at the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, said that denying parole only for those convicted of child abuse could violate the principle of equality.

Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), who chaired the session, asked the MOJ for a timeline for the draft legislation, to which the MOJ deputy minister replied that it would be ready to send to the Executive Yuan "within three months."

The issue of child abuse has been in the spotlight in recent months, following the high-profile death of Kai Kai (剴剴), a one-year-old boy who was tortured to death by two nannies surnamed Liu (劉) who were respectively sentenced to life imprisonment and 18 years last week.

A recent survey by the Action Alliance on Basic Education found that 92.1 percent of respondents believe current penalties for fatal child abuse are too light and should be increased.

The same poll, which was based on 8,724 valid responses collected between May 17 and 21, found that 88.6 percent support mandatory psychological treatment and recidivism assessments for offenders.

Source: focustaiwan.tw, James Thompson, Wang Yang-yu, Chen Chih-chung, May 22, 2025

Taiwan | Ten thousand sign petition supporting capital punishment for child abusers

Spurred by the case of Kai Kai (剴剴), the 1-year-old boy who was abused to death by two sisters, ten thousand people have signed a petition advocating for capital punishment in child abuse cases that result in the death of the child. Scholars discussed the matter at a public hearing this Thursday.

The petition, launched through an online public policy platform, proposes adding the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole for abusing a child to death to Article 271 of Taiwan’s Criminal Code. The proposal also includes adding a prison sentence of more than 10 years for abuse of minors under age 16.

A number of legal experts commented at the hearing. National Yang Ming Chao Tung University Institute of Technology Law Professor Lin Chih-Chieh (林志潔) said while she supports retaining the option of the death penalty for especially egregious cases of child abuse, she questioned whether similar penalties should be considered when other vulnerable groups, such as the disabled, become victims of abuse. Hsuan Chuang University Associate Law Professor Liu Yu-Wei (劉育偉) recommended comprehensively defining the constituent elements of abuse in criminal law in order to reform the overall social safety net and prevent cases of abuse in the first place.

Finally, Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office Prosecutor Tsai Pei-shan (蔡沛珊) pointed out that adding the death penalty to Articles 271 and 286 may violate the “Two Covenants,” referring to two crucial human rights agreements adopted by the United Nations. She emphasized the importance of pursuing justice based on legal principles and proportionality rather than pure emotion.

Source: rti.org.tw, Hanna Bilinski, May 22, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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Arizona | Man who murdered pastor crucifixion style requests plea deal after parents killed in plane crash

Adam Sheafe, the California man who admitted to killing a New River, Arizona, pastor in a crucifixion-style attack, has asked prosecutors to offer him a plea deal that would result in a natural life sentence rather than the death penalty he had previously sought. Advisory council attorneys representing Sheafe sent a formal plea offer to prosecutors this week, about two weeks after his father and stepmother died in a plane crash at Marana Airport on April 8, according to 12 News. Sheafe, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of William Schonemann, 76, pastor of New River Bible Church, who was found dead inside his home last April.

US Department of Justice announces decision to resume federal executions

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that it will resume the federal use of capital punishment and that it is seeking death sentences against 44 defendants. DOJ also said that it will use firing squads, electrocution, or nitrogen asphyxiation if the drug used in lethal injection is unavailable. The announcement follows the Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty report, published on April 24. The report is especially critical of the moratorium on federal executions, ordered by Attorney General Merrick Garland in July 2021, to remain until the death penalty could be conducted “fairly and humanely.” Garland was concerned about the federal lethal injection protocol, which uses only one drug, pentobarbital, and the possibility that it causes “unnecessary pain and suffering.” In response to Garland’s moratorium and concerns, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 prisoners on federal death row, leaving only three prisoners.

China | Man sentenced to death for murder executed in Yunnan

Tian Yongming, who was initially sentenced for a series of violent crimes and then had his sentence changed to death early this year, has been executed in Yunnan province following approval from China's top court. The execution was carried out by the Intermediate People's Court in Yuxi, Yunnan, on Tuesday, with local prosecutors supervising the process. Before the execution, Tian was allowed to meet with his family members. The case dates back to September 1996, when Tian was sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape and attempted murder of his sister-in-law. After his release on July 15, 2002, he plotted revenge against the woman. On the night of Nov 13, 2002, he broke into her home armed with a knife.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

Florida executes Chadwick Scott Willacy

STARKE, Fla. -- A Florida man who set his neighbor on fire after she returned from work to find him burglarizing her home was executed Tuesday evening. Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. It was Florida's fifth execution this year. The curtain to the execution chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6 p.m. time, and the lethal injection got underway two minutes later, after Willacy made a brief statement.

Iran to execute first woman linked to mass protests after ‘forced confessions’

Bita Hemmati and three others have been sentenced to death for 'collusion' and 'propaganda.' Advocates claim the charges are baseless, citing a secretive process and state-televised interrogations. Iranian authorities are preparing to execute Bita Hemmati, the first woman sentenced to death in connection with the mass protests in Tehran in late December and January, according to the US-based non-profit the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Judge Iman Afshari, of Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, sentenced Hemmati, her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi Asl, and Behrouz Zamaninezhad, and Kourosh Zamaninezhad to death on the charge of “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups,” in addition to discretionary imprisonment period of five years on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.”

Tennessee | Man set to be executed files motion claiming DNA evidence will exonerate him

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Attorneys for death row inmate Tony Carruthers filed a motion in Shelby County Criminal Court seeking immediate DNA testing on evidence they claim will prove his innocence in a 1994 triple murder. Carruthers is scheduled for execution on May 12. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murders of 24-year-old Marcellos Anderson, 17-year-old Delois Anderson, and 21-year-old Frederick Scarborough. Prosecutors at trial alleged the victims were buried alive in a Memphis cemetery as part of a drug-related robbery.

Florida Schedules Two Executions for Late April

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has directed the Florida Department of Corrections to move forward with two executions scheduled for late April 2026, marking a significant ramp-up in the state's use of capital punishment. The scheduled deaths of Chadwick Willacy and James Ernest Hitchcock follow a series of landmark judicial rulings that have kept both men on death row for decades.

Singapore executes man for trafficking 1kg of cannabis

SINGAPORE — Singaporean authorities executed Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj at Changi Prison on Thursday, April 16, 2026, following his 2019 conviction for importing 1,009.1 grams of cannabis. Bamadhaj, 41, though some reports have cited his age as 46, was arrested on July 12, 2018, during a routine search at the Woodlands Checkpoint. Officers discovered the narcotics wrapped in plastic and hidden within his vehicle as he attempted to enter Singapore from Malaysia. Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, the threshold for the mandatory death penalty involving cannabis is 500 grams, a limit this shipment exceeded by more than double.

Florida | Man avoids death penalty in Daytona Beach triple murder

Jerome Anderson shot and killed Antoine Melvin, 42, John Burch, 65, and Patrick Lassiter, 35, in 2023. A man pleaded no contest to a triple-murder in Daytona Beach and was sentenced April 20 to three consecutive life terms in prison as part of a plea deal in which he avoided a possible death sentence. Jerome Anderson, 41, was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in the 2023 triple-slaying. Anderson pleaded no contest to the three first-degree murder charges April 20 and, in exchange, Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak agreed not to continue to pursue the death penalty.

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