Death Penalty News

Kaohsiung, June 5 (CNA) A 74-year-old man was sentenced to death on Friday for killing three women in separate incidents between 2024 and 2025, following convictions for murder, desecration, and abandonment of corpses, according to a court ruling. The Kaohsiung District Court, composed of a panel of three professional and six citizen judges, also convicted Chang Chieh-tsung (張介宗) of theft, including illegally withdrawing NT$5,000 using a victim's debit card. Chang was also sentenced to the deprivation of his civil rights for life.

TAIWAN’S OLDEST DEATH ROW prisoner, Wang Xin-fu, has been denied a retrial by the Supreme Court. This occurs despite the fact that Wang has consistently maintained his innocence and, in fact, did not commit the murders for which he is on death row. In particular, Wang was sentenced to capital punishment in 2006 over the killing of two police officers at a karaoke bar in 1990. The shooting was committed by Chen Rong-jie, who was then 19. Wang was accused of ordering the hit. It is believed that Wang’s confession of guilt was extracted through torture and intimidation.

The High Court's Kaohsiung branch today upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of fatally stabbing his upstairs neighbors for allegedly making excessive noise. The man, surnamed Wu (吳), was found guilty of two counts of murder and sentenced to death on each count, along with lifelong deprivation of civil rights. The ruling can be appealed. In its decision, the court said Wu acted with direct intent to kill, meeting the Constitutional Court's requirement that the death penalty be reserved for "the most serious crimes."

Around 300 people marched in Taipei on Sunday against what they called Taiwan's "de facto abolition of the death penalty," ahead of an appeal-court verdict in the case of two sisters convicted of killing a 1-year-old foster child in their care.  One of the march's organizers, the parent-led group Kids' Magic Carpet, said stalled executions and reduced sentences in serious felony cases had eroded public confidence in the justice system, arguing that lighter punishments for violent crimes involving minors exposed children to risks that were "difficult to undo." 

On the occasion of the 23rd World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October 2025, Amnesty International joins the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and other abolitionist activists and organizations in denouncing the continued use of the death penalty and encouraging actions in support of its full abolition.   Trends recorded so far in 2025 indicate that executions have significantly increased in some countries, when compared to figures registered in recent years. Among these rises, some governments have shown renewed determination to use this cruel punishment as a tool of repression and control. This has frequently happened in the context of flawed narratives intended to create a false impression of security through a display of heavy-handed responses from the state, and to score political points. These narratives have also fostered a flagrant disregard for safeguards and restrictions under international human rights law and standards that have been established ...

A man who was charged with the murder of his wife, mother-in-law, and stepson in New Taipei last year was sentenced to death on Tuesday by a court panel that included 6 "citizen judges," according to the New Taipei District Court.  It was the 1st time that a death sentence was imposed by citizen judges since Taiwan implemented a lay judge system on Jan. 1, 2023.  In the ruling, the court said that the 24-year-old man, surnamed Chang, killed his 30-year-old wife sometime around midnight on April 30 by suffocating her with a pillow while she was asleep. 

Taipei, Aug. 5 (CNA) Taiwan's Supreme Court has rejected a request for a retrial from death row inmate Lu Wen-sheng (呂文昇), ruling that a lower court's decision to dismiss the petition was procedurally sound and legally valid. The ruling affirms an earlier decision by the Taichung Branch of the Taiwan High Court, which had found that Lu's request should have been filed with the Supreme Court, not a second-instance court, because his case had already gone through a third-instance trial. The court in Taichung also ruled that Lu failed to provide any new evidence that would meet the criteria for a retrial, such as evidence that the original sentencing did not consider key factors related to the death penalty.

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan on Friday passed amendments to the Criminal Code, including a provision allowing the death penalty for those who abuse a child under the age of 7 in a way that results in death. The amendments include changes to Article 271 of the Criminal Code, adding a provision that stipulates the penalty for killing a child under the age of 7 may be increased by up to one half. In cases where abuse leads to the death of a child under the age of 7, offenders may face the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Constitutional Court justice and Judicial Yuan president nominee Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) today expressed support for maintaining the death penalty and judicial reform. Tsai, who serves as Taiwan High Prosecutors' Office chief prosecutor, was speaking at a Legislative Yuan review of his nomination by President William Lai (賴清德). Asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) about ending the death penalty, Tsai said that he did not support its abolition. He supports Constitutional Judgement No. 8, he said.

The Supreme Court yesterday rejected an appeal from death row prisoner Cheng Wu-sung (鄭武松) to suspend his execution. In September last year, the Constitutional Court issued Constitutional Judgement No. 8, which said that although the death penalty is constitutional, it should only be applied in “exceptional cases.” This led to Cheng filing for a retrial on the grounds that he could be rehabilitated. The constitutional judgement allows for the death penalty only for the “most serious” of premeditated crimes and if the case followed the strictest requirements of due process.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan High Court on Wednesday opened a second trial in the case of Mark Dave Velasco, a 30-year-old Filipino migrant worker convicted of killing and dismembering his girlfriend in 2023. Velasco is appealing his life sentence. Prosecutors have also contested the original ruling, arguing it was too lenient and seeking the death penalty, per CNA. Velasco was found guilty in the first trial under Taiwan’s lay judge system of murdering his girlfriend, Red Michelle Selda, following a dispute at their rented apartment in Taoyuan. Prosecutors said he killed Selda during the altercation, dismembered her body, and fled with her wallet and phone.

Kaohsiung, May 28 (CNA) Kaohsiung prosecutors on Tuesday sought the death penalty for a man accused of killing and dismembering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was indicted on charges of murder, corpse abandonment and mutilation, theft and unlawful appropriation of property. After reviewing surveillance footage, questioning witnesses and collecting evidence from his home, prosecutors said the 73-year-old is strongly suspected of committing the crimes.

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) The Supreme Court has remanded the case of a man sentenced to death for fatally shooting four people in central Taiwan in 2022, amid a tightening of the country's criteria for imposing capital punishment. The court ruled on Monday that the Taiwan High Court must separately assess the sentences for multiple crimes committed by Lee Hung-yuan (李鴻淵), a former employee of Nantou-based biotech contract manufacturer Kang Jian, citing Judgment No. 113-Hsien-Pan-8, issued in September 2024.

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.

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Taiwan's Supreme Court on Friday revoked the death sentence of Liang Yu-chih (梁育誌), who was convicted of murdering a Malaysian university student in 2020, and ordered a new trial. The court said the most recent ruling by the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch, issued in January, failed to thoroughly examine the evidence and did not provide sufficient reasoning. The case can still be appealed. This is the first case to reaffirm a death sentence after Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled in September 2024 that capital punishment is conditionally constitutional.

Taipei, March 17 (CNA) Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Monday said his party will launch a campaign to hold referendums opposing the abolition of the death penalty and what he alleged was a push toward martial law and war by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Chu announced the referendum campaigns at a press conference held with KMT lawmakers in front of the Legislative Yuan, saying Taiwan's democracy had reached a "critical moment" due to "destructive" actions by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and the DPP. On the issue of the death penalty, Chu slammed a ruling issued by the Constitutional Court last year, which found the death penalty constitutional only for the "most serious" premeditated murders and crimes leading to death.

Taipei, Feb. 19 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court on Wednesday upheld a life sentence for a man who stabbed a convenience store clerk to death over being asked to wear a face mask. Taoyuan resident Chiang Chia-kai (蔣嘉凱) was originally given the death penalty for the November 2021 murder, which occurred during Taiwan's strict mask mandate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Taoyuan District Court's December 2022 sentence was reduced when the case was automatically sent for appeal to the Taiwan High Court, in accordance with Article 344 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan carried out its first execution in five years late on Thursday, upsetting both rights groups and the European Union which called on the government to maintain its de facto moratorium on the death penalty. Despite Taiwan's reputation as Asia's most liberal democracy, the death penalty remains broadly popular according to opinion polls, though in recent years it has only rarely been carried out and violent crime is relatively low.

Kaohsiung, Jan. 15 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch on Wednesday upheld a death sentence for a man found guilty of raping and murdering a Malaysian student in a retrial. The sentence was upheld due to defendant Liang Yu-chih's (梁育誌) intention to kill, the cruelty of his actions and the high risk of him reoffending, the court said in a news statement. The ruling can be appealed. On October 28, 2020, Liang abducted the victim, a college student studying in Taiwan, when she was walking alone near her school in Tainan.

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) A man found guilty of arson that resulted in the deaths of eight family members in June 2022 had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment Wednesday as the Taiwan High Court determined he showed remorse by voluntarily turning himself in to the authorities. The decision can still be appealed. The death sentence handed down by the Hsinchu District Court to Chen Yen-hsiang (陳彥翔) who set fire to his home in Hsinchu in 2022, resulting in the death of eight, including his mother, wife and three children, was commuted to life in prison by the Taiwan High Court, High Court spokesman Wang Ping-hsia (王屏夏) said.