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Army sergeant faces most serious charge over soldier's death

ROC Central News Agency

2013/07/31 17:56:25

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) Eighteen senior officers and non-commissioned officers were indicted Wednesday over the death of an Army conscript July 4, with Sergeant Chen Yi-hsun facing the heaviest charge of abusing a subordinate to death.

Military prosecutors ruled that there was no evidence that Chen was directed by his superiors to abuse Hung Chung-chiu, who died of heatstroke due to punishment exercises he was forced to do in hot weather while being wrongfully held in disciplinary confinement for bringing a camera-equipped cellphone onto his base June 28.

Instead, the young man's death was purely due to Chen's own abuse, military prosecutors said. According to military regulations, Hung's offense merited no more than an administrative reprimand, but he was sent to the brig -- and ultimately his death.

The death sparked a public outcry, with thousands of protesters holding a rally in front of the Ministry of National Defense July 20 to demand an investigation.

In an effort to carry out damage control, 37 military officers were given different degrees of punishment, including Army Commander Gen. Lee Hsiang-Chou. In addition, President Ma Ying-jeou has apologized for the tragedy and has accepted Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu's resignation over the incident.

Among the 18 defendants, Chen, who was responsible for monitoring the situation of those in disciplinary confinement, was charged with abuse leading to the conscript's death by imposing excessive exercise on him.

According to Article 44 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces, the charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or at least seven years.

Military prosecutors said in the indictment that Chen, who oversaw Hung's punishment while he was in solitary confinement, was charged with imposing excessive "exercises that were unbearable, cruel and abusive" that resulted in Hung's death from multiple organ failure July 4.

The indictment also said that Maj. Gen. Shen Wei-chih, the former commander of Hung's brigade, had failed to detect Hung's poor physical and mental condition and the infractions of procedure before heedlessly approving his disciplinary confinement.

Shen is the highest-ranking military official among those accused of being responsible for Hung's death.

In addition to Shen, five other officers from the 542 Armored Brigade, including former Deputy Commander Col. Ho Chiang-chung, Company Commander Maj. Hsu Hsin-cheng, Master Sgt. Chen Yi-jen and Staff Sgt. Fan Tso-hsien were also charged with "collectively imposing illegal punishment on a subordinate" and offenses against personal liberty.

Ten other officials were charged with involuntary manslaughter for not noticing that Hung's health was failing and not taking necessary measures during his time in solitary confinement to prevent his death.

Another official was charged with transferring Hung to solitary confinement without authorization.

Military prosecutors said in an investigative report that four major factors -- high temperatures, environmental, physical and mental factors -- might have been the cause of Hung's death.

In addition, Tsao Chin-sheng, chief military prosecutor-general, said there were also flaws in the procedure for sending Hung to hospital.

(By Rogge Chen, Angela Tsai and Y.L. Kao)