The order was given to mark the 20th anniversary of the lifting of martial law. Some of these ex-convicts are expected to start life anew. Some, however, face a highly uncertain future.

A few of them have run into trouble with the law again. One report said seven have already died, possibly due to drug abuse. The commutations have caused concerns that public order will sustain a considerable impact when such a large number of ex-convicts are freed all at once.

Ministry of Justice (MOJ) officials argued that in the past, only about 20 percent of former criminals broke the law again and were sent back to prison.

However, that argument described what used to be the case. These days, a large portion of inmates are drug abusers. A consequence of this harmful indulgence is that it motivates them to become habitual criminals. According to statistics, in the past nine years about 60 percent of substance abusers were so addicted that they came in and out of prison repeatedly.

An anonymous inmate discharged from the Taichung Prison told journalists that he rejoiced at being released earlier than scheduled but he was now facing the problem of finding a job.

The 46-year-old, who had been sentenced to 11 years for causing the death of a victim by injuring him, said that after serving five years he now had few outside contacts. He was worried that his criminal record and his age would undermine his opportunities to find work.

Another inmate, also released from the Taichung Prison, was also uncertain what to do after walking free. The man, who enrolled in the state-run National Open University while behind bars, carried his books from his cell. He said he needed a few days to think about what to do next, but added that he would continue his National Open University studies.

Also facing an uncertain future is a 33-year-old female inmate released from the same prison. The woman, surnamed Hsieh, is 37 weeks pregnant and could give birth any time. But she has no home to return to. The unmarried woman was sentenced to six months for theft and served her term because she could not afford to pay the fine that would have substituted for the prison term.

She was four months pregnant when she reported to the jail authorities March 9. As she had no one who would accommodate her after her release, the jail authorities asked a charity in Hualien to take care of her at least until she gives birth.

The jail term commutation program, referred to by some as an amnesty, has made the island’s police much busier than usual. Many of them are now stationed in positions on streets where none of them were regularly placed before, day or night.

The National Police Administration (NPA) said that it has sent the list of names of the 10,000 former inmates to local police stations, which will check in on the freed inmates regularly.

For drug convicts, who tend to repeat their offenses, local police will cooperate with drug prevention centers to provide counseling for the former inmates.

Minister of Justice Shih Mao-lin said that there have been a few isolated cases of trouble, but promised effective tracking of released prisoners to maintain law and order.

Shih said that his ministry has asked relevant authorities to step up after-care assistance for certain former prisoners, to prevent them from breaking the law again and mitigate possible negative effects on public order. Of the 9,597 inmates freed Monday, 4,200 were violators of the Drug Control Act, and 1,600 were burglars, ministry statistics showed.

According to Shih, criminals of these types are most likely to reoffend, and five of the released prisoners have already committed new crimes, with four taking drugs again and one interfering in the performance of public duties at a police station. It is important that law enforcement authorities adopt a set of well-designed measures to prevent ex-convicts from breaking the law again. The commutation program, designed mainly to serve political purposes, was planned and carried out hastily. It is likely to have a strong impact on public order and even on the economy.

It has been pointed out that some of the freed prisoners broke the law inadvertently or due to their lack of understanding of the law. The freeing of prisoners such as these won’t pose any threat to law and order. But the inmates jailed for more serious crimes such as drug trafficking and theft are likely to be a danger to society unless they undergo sufficient re-education and reformation. The government, therefore, must do a good job of tracking and monitoring the released convicts.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email