6,000 Taiwanese Prisoners Released in Mass Amnesty

The Nationalist government today released about 6,000 prisoners, including 19 political detainees, in a mass amnesty marking the 100th day since President Chiang Ching-kuo’s death.

Huang Shih-min, a Justice Ministry official, said about 16,000 other prisoners, including 11 charged with sedition, had their sentences reduced. They remained behind bars pending completion of the shortened jail terms.

Justice officials said the release of 6,054 gangsters, drug addicts, corrupt officials and other convicted criminals began at dawn after brief ceremonies at jails throughout the island.

Each prisoner was presented a red package containing the equivalent of about $17 to wish them luck, they said.

Television showed the prisoners, some smiling and some tearful, being met by anxious wives, children and other relatives waiting in drizzly weather outside the jail.

Transportation officials reported all domestic flights and trains were packed as prisoners and their relatives headed for home.

Five political prisoners were welcomed by about 50 relatives and members of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party upon arrival at Taipei’s domestic airport from a jail on Green Island, 180 miles southeast of Taipei.

Prominent Figure Included

Prominent dissident Tai Hua-kuang, 37, was among the political prisoners released from Green Island. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978 on charges of plotting to topple the Nationalist government by forming an underground communist organization.

Another dissident, Pai Ya-chan, had tears in his eyes as he told reporters he was grateful for those people who “fought hard for human rights and ending political oppression.” He said he wanted to join opposition politics.