Taiwan Supreme Court defers execution of Filipina

Written by Writer on Saturday, October 25th, 2008

Taiwan Supreme Court defers execution of Filipina

The death sentence won’t be served to Nemencia Armia, also known as “Cecille” Armia Alcaraz, at least for now.

The Taiwan High Court in Kaohsiung did not reaffirm the earlier verdict of the Kaohsiung District Court that earlier sentenced Armia to death for the alleged murder and robbery of a Taiwanese, Foreign Affairs spokesman Claro Cristobal said Friday, citing reports from Antonio Basilio, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) managing director in Taipei.

Instead, the High Court in Taiwan gave more time for Armia to go over an official English translation of the District Court’s decision before filing the appeal brief.

The appeal brief, according to Cristobal, is a legal term for the document that Armia and her lawyer will submit to the appellate court in Taiwan. It will contain the errors in the lower court’s judgment as basis for the appeal.

“She was given time so she can fully understand the basis for the decision and give her an opportunity to raise questions at the next hearing,” the MECO said in a statement.

The next hearing is yet to be set. Philippine officials earlier said the appeal process usually takes one to three months. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the case will automatically be reviewed by Taiwan High Court.

The copy of the Kaohsiung District Court decision that was translated by MECO was given to members of the media on October 20, but it was not an official document.

Basilio said Armia is getting the Philippine government’s full support in protecting her legal rights.

Armia was sentenced to death on September 30 for the murder and robbery of Chiu Mei-yun on September 12, 2007.

She argued that her supposed victim was killed by a certain Mr. Chang and Mr. Wu.–Llanesca T. Panti

The Manila Times
Saturday, October 25, 2008