ison terms for inmates. He said the move is designed to mark the 20th anniversary of the lifting of martial law and the 60th anniversary of the 2-28 Incident. Those are not legitimate reasons for carrying out a general commutation.
Under the plan the MOJ is making in accordance with the president's instructions, inmates who will have their terms reduced will be limited mainly to those serving sentences of one year or shorter. Convicts who have committed major crimes won't be covered by the plan. It is hard to establish a logical connection between the plan and the reasons for implementing it.
Taiwan was under martial law back when the island's security was threatened both internally and externally. The crime rate was extremely low in those days and society was tranquil and peaceful. Many citizens miss that era very much.
The so-called 2-28 Incident as described by the ruling DPP as an instance of invading Chinese troops massacring native Taiwanese. What's the correlation between such an incident and the pardoning of inmates who have committed petty crimes?
It's easy to understand that releasing these inmates is likely to result in a rise in the crime rate. So what reasons for the commutations could there be except the approach of the presidential election?
