TAIWAN HEARING TO APPEAL 'HSICHIH TRIO' DEATH PENALTY OPENS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

a preliminary hearing opened at Taiwan's High Court in the ongoing "Hsichih Trio" murder case with the three defendants appealing to overturn the death penalty on grounds they were tortured by police until they confessed. The hearing was the latest development in a 17-year string of cases, and held on Human Rights Day. Defendants Su Chien-he, Liu Bing-lang and Chuang Liu-hsun have drawn upon legal support in their case from Taiwan's Human Rights Association and the Humanistic Education Foundation, as well as Klaus Walter, a representative of the human rights group Amnesty International, who attended the hearing. "It's ridiculous for this case to still be going on," Walter stated before the hearing. "Taiwan is a mature country ... In the 17 years that this case has been going on, so many mistakes have been made," with prosecutors chasing the death penalty "irrespective of whether the defendants are guilty or not." The latest hearing marked the men's 11th retrial, involving three appeals against the death penalty and at least seven years of waiting on death row. The next hearing will be held on January 28, 2008.