Failed assassin seeks compensation for authoritarian rule jail time

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) Deh Tzu-tsai (鄭自才), a former dissident who conspired to assassinate then Vice Premier Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in the United States in 1970, appeared in court on Tuesday seeking compensation for a yearlong prison term he served in Taiwan on separate charges more than 30 years ago.

Deh was imprisoned in November 1992 for illegally entering Taiwan the previous year, but his conviction was overturned in September 2024 by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).

The MOJ approved Deh's application under the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice, legislation which aims to address injustices committed during the period of Kuomintang (KMT) authoritarian rule in Taiwan from 1945 to 1992.

Speaking outside the Taiwan High Court on Tuesday, Deh said he is seeking the maximum compensation of NT$5,000 (US$152) per day calculated for every day of his 365-day sentence, a total of NT$1.825 million.

Judge Liu Wei-pi (劉為丕) of the Taiwan High Court said that the MOJ's decision to revoke Deh's conviction was based on transitional justice legislation, but whether this ruling is relevant to the Criminal Compensation Act has yet to be established by the court.

The case at the high court continues.

Deh came to notoriety alongside his brother-in-law co-conspirator Peter Huang (黃文雄) after taking part in a failed attempt to assassinate the then vice premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name), who was visiting New York in April 20, 1970, to meet with then-U.S. President Richard Nixon.

The pair later insisted they were motivated by political reasons to kill Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), who later replaced his father as president of the Republic of China under the authoritarian KMT-led regime in 1978.

At the time, Deh was secretary-general of the World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI), an alliance of overseas Taiwanese promoting the establishment of a Republic of Taiwan.

Deh was immediately arrested after the unsuccessful assassination attempt, but jumped bail in the U.S. and later lived outside Taiwan for more than two decades.

He was arrested in January 1991 and later imprisoned under Taiwan's National Security Act for illegally entering the country.

Now 89 years old, Deh is chairman of the Sovereign State for Formosa & Pescadores Party, a small pro-Taiwan independence political party established in 2019.