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Court hearings begin in army death case, defendant gets bail

ROC Central News Agency

2013/08/01 22:56:32

Taipei, Aug. 1 (CNA) One of the defendants accused of causing the death of an army corporal was granted bail Thursday as a military court began hearings on the case, which has sparked widespread criticism of the treatment of soldiers and conscripts in Taiwan's military.

The court granted Sergeant Chen Yi-hsun's request to be released on bail as it saw no threat of the accused tampering with evidence or colluding with other defendants or witnesses, said a spokeswoman for the military court in Taoyuan County.

There is no risk of Chen fleeing either, as he is to report for duty as an active-duty serviceman, the spokeswoman said. Military prosecutors, however, said they would appeal the court's decision.

Chen was one of at least four defendants scheduled to appear before the court Thursday and the one who the military prosecutors said should bear the largest share of the responsibility for the death of Army Corporal Hung Chung-chiu on July 4.

Hung died of heatstroke after he was forced to do strenuous exercises in extreme heat while being detained in a brig for bringing a mobile phone with a camera onto his military base.

As a guard in the brig where Hung was confined, Chen was indicted on Wednesday on charges of causing the death of Hung by forcing him to do the exercises in sweltering heat against army regulations.

If convicted, he faces seven years in prison to life imprisonment.

The court hearings began as both the incoming and the outgoing ministers of defense went to visit Hung's family in Taichung City, with both vowing to help get to the bottom of the incident.

Naming the defendants was just the beginning of the process, said newly appointed Defense Minister Andrew Yang, who took over from his predecessor Kao Hua-chu Wednesday.

Kao was forced to step down due to public outcry over the death and dissatisfaction over the military's subsequent handling of the investigation.

A total of 18 officers have been indicted in the case, including the one-star commander of the Army's 542 Armored Brigade.

Hung, a 24-year-old graduate of the National Cheng Kung University, was wrongfully thrown into the brig on June 28 and died six days later, just two days before he was due to be discharged from his military service.

Military prosecutors found some of the defendants held a grudge against Hung and colluded with others to bypass the standard procedure and subject the victim to a punishment more serious than he deserved for his offense.

(By Lin Rui-yi, Chen Ching-ping and Jay Chen)
ENDITEM/cs