By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporterA coalition of Taiwanese independence groups yesterday joined a petition calling for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to be pardoned and urging President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to amend the Amnesty Act (赦免法) to clear legal obstacles for pardon by the end of this year. Tsai had promised judicial fairness for Chen before she was elected last year, while Premier William Lai (賴清德) had severeal times called for Chen to be pardoned, Chang said, calling on the two to start the pardon process. Tsai Yi-yu has proposed amending the law to allow the president to pardon people for crimes even before a conviction, as Chen still has trails pending in court. Such an amendment would remove legal ambiguity and prevent the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and pro-unification groups from launching a campaign to overturn the pardon, he said. Tsai Yi-yu added he sought to schedule a review of the proposed amendment for the next legislative session to begin on Sept 22.

Source: Taipei Times September 10, 2017 16:05 UTC