Supreme Court upholds rejection of death row inmate retrial request

Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) Taiwan's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by death row inmate Cheng Yi-lung (陳憶隆), confirming an earlier Taiwan High Court decision to deny his request for a retrial.

The ruling concluded that the Taiwan High Court had not erred in dismissing Cheng's petition, which sought a retrial following a Constitutional Court decision on the death penalty.

Cheng had argued that the Constitutional Court's Judgment No. 8 of September 20, 2024, which declared mandatory death sentences unconstitutional, gave him grounds to request "special relief" through a retrial.

In June, Cheng submitted his petition to the Taiwan High Court, citing the Constitutional Court's ruling as new evidence.

The Taiwan High Court ruled that the Constitutional Court's decision allowed death row inmates to ask the Prosecutor General to file an extraordinary appeal, but did not justify a retrial.

According to the Taiwan High Court, Cheng's petition was based on a misunderstanding of the law and therefore did not meet the requirements for reopening the case.

Cheng appealed that ruling, but the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal and confirmed the original decision.

There are currently 36 inmates on death row in Taiwan, including Cheng and Huang Chun-chi (黃春棋), who were sentenced to death in 2000 for kidnapping and murder.

The Constitutional Court's 2024 ruling declared the death penalty conditionally constitutional, while invalidating the provision mandating death as the only penalty for certain crimes.