Chiou Ho-shun is on death row in Taiwan for murder – a crime he says he never committed, and has been appealing ever since. Thirty-three years since his first conviction, Chiou has almost exhausted all opportunities to appeal his death sentence. 

A young man in his 20s when he entered prison, Chiou is now an old man full of grey hair, who struggles with illness.

According to Chiou himself, and confirmed by years of investigations from different parties, - during detention and interrogation, Chiou was blindfolded, tied up, forced to sit on ice, subjected to electric shocks by an electric baton, and had pepper water poured into his mouth and nose during questioning. 

The interrogations lasted up to 10 hours at a time, with five or six people beating him to the point where he lost consciousness several times. Chiou has lost hearing in his left ear and suffers migraines as a result of the beatings.

Prosecutors used the “confessions” obtained through police torture of Chiou, as evidence to prove guilt - even though no material evidence linking Chiou to the crimes has ever been presented in court. 

Key evidence against Chiou Ho-Shun has even gone missing. Taiwan’s Supreme Court ordered the case to be retried 11 times because of problems with earlier trials - yet he remains on death row.

As he was being sentenced to death for the last time, Chiou Ho-shun told the court: “I haven’t killed anyone. Why don’t judges have the courage to find me not guilty?”

Some of the police officers also admitted in 2003 that they had covered up and failed to investigate the fact that another death row inmate had confessed to the murders just before he was executed.

The imprisonment and sentencing to death of Chiou is wrong and is a stain on Taiwan’s legal system.

Please call on the government of Taiwan to ensure that Chiou Ho-shun is granted a pardon, and let him go home after 33 years of despair.