TAIWAN. PROSECUTORS STARE DEATH IN THE FACE

Chang Chin-tu , a prosecutor at the Kaohsiung bureau of the Taiwan High Prosecutors' Office, who had been in charge of executions for eight years, told reporters that all prisoners received anaesthesia and were unconscious before being shot. "Prisoners who agree to donate organs following their deaths are executed with a single shot to the head. Those who do not receive three shots to the heart," Chang said.
"I feel sympathetic when a prisoner expresses remorse to me before their execution," he said. "But if the prisoner does not show any repentance, I feel OK."
Prosecutor Lin Chan-ching of the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office said that a "last meal" was prepared for prisoners who were informed of their ultimate fate a couple of hours before their executions.
Few of them are able to eat, she said, adding that alcohol and cigarettes are also offered to the condemned individuals.
"Although they are flagrant criminals, they show huge fear when they know they are soon going to die," Lin said.
Many attempted to delay the executions by asking to smoke a cigarette or use the restroom, she added.