Taiwan court orders death penalty in 16 years old case

TAIPEI, June 30 (Reuters) Taiwan's High Court has ordered three convicted murderers be executed in a 16-year-old case that caught the attention of Amnesty International, local media reported today.

Under orders from the island's Supreme Court to re-hear the case, the High Court overturned its own 2003 acquittal verdict by sentencing Liu Bing-lang, Su Chien-ho and Chuang Lin-hsun, also known as the Hsichih Trio, on charges of robbing and fatally stabbing two people in a Taipei suburb, newspapers said.

The bodies were discovered in March 1991 with 75 stab wounds, the papers reported.

Amnesty International has condemned Taiwan for the case, saying prosecutors lacked evidence despite years of investigations and 10 trials. The defendants have also alleged they were tortured.

Taiwan says the number of executions, carried out by either lethal injection or shooting, has declined, with 2005 figures showing a fall from 32 in 1998 to 17 in 2000.

REUTERS SV RN1045