The justice ministry says the recent execution of a death row inmate is in line with the law.
Weng Jen-hsien was executed Wednesday night. The Supreme Court sentenced him to death in July of last year for setting fire to six people in 2016, including his parents and two nephews.
This is the second execution carried out during President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration.
In a press release, the justice ministry says that while the government’s policy is to gradually abolish the death penalty, the execution was carried out after taking social justice and human rights protection into consideration.
The justice ministry says the crime punished meets the criteria for an egregious crime under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Although there have been calls to abolish capital punishment in recent years, there is little consensus on the issue in Taiwan’s society.