miscarriage of justice?

One of Taiwan's longest-running and most controversial criminal cases has once

again hit the headlines - sparking a big debate about the judicial system.

Su Chien-ho , Liu Bing-lang and Chuang Lin-hsun (pictured on their way to today's High court hearing) were teenagers when they were arrested sixteen years ago. They were given double death-sentences after the court found them guilty of robbery, rape, breaking and entering, and the gruesome murder of a couple in Hsichih, Taipei County, in 1991.

Various hearings later, the death penalties were upheld. But the three told lawyers their confessions had been extracted from them after they'd undergone torture by the police - including electric shocks to their genitalia.

In a retrial, in 2003, the High Court acquitted the men. But, just a few months later, the Supreme Court ordered a fresh trial - ending in today's verdict, which shocked defence laywers and supporters who had gathered outside the courthouse. There were highly emotional scenes - with most supporters, including some lawyers, in tears. One lawyer said it was an "international joke". The defence team symbolically turned their legal robes inside out - signifying their disgust at the verdict - and held a silent vigil on the steps of the court house. They have vowed to appeal again to the Supreme Court.

Amnesty International has been among the various human rights groups voicing concerns over the case. Last October, they wrote: "The case against the three is based almost entirely on their confessions which were allegedly extracted through torture at the hands of the police. These allegations combined with an apparent lack of material evidence and irregularities in the investigative process give us serious cause for concern that this case is a miscarriage of justice. "

Lawyers here say the case is "special" in many ways: and has helped bring about some real changes in the judicial system - for example, new rules that mean a case cannot be built only around confessions - but needs to have material evidence for convictions; allowing cross examination of witnesses by prosecutors and reducing the dominance of judges in a trial. But, they say, it also exposes the fact that, despite substantial reform, some flaws still remain .

photography museum

Photographers gathered in Taipei's only art photography gallery, TIVAC, at the weekend to launch a campaign to try to raise funds and government support to establish a national photography museum - which could be the first in the Chinese speaking world.

While several museums (like the TFAM) have photography collections, many important historical photos are not kept in any special collection, but held by family members of photographers who have since passed away.

But a museum would be costly (several million USD) and there's also a problem of finding qualified staff to run it and help conserve fragile prints. No-one is under any illusion it will happen any time soon - but a dream has been planted.

"Photography is very important…. image is in fact related to our culture, society, and human being", said photographer Leon Tsai, one of the organisers of the campaign.

Lee Yong-Pin, head of Taipei's cultural affairs bureau, is supportive of the idea; but also says funding is a problem. She says some other cities have combined fine arts museums with a photography museum - and that might be a possible alternative.

One of the key advocates of the museum idea is Malaysian-Chinese Suan Hooi-Wah, who runs the TIVAC gallery and is a passionate champion of of local photographers. He recently curated a photo exhibition at TFAM, tracking down photos that were once displayed at Taiwan's first photo gallery (long since closed), Rose Marie.

Jets on the freeway

Part of a section of the Sun Yat-Sen freeway - one of the main arterial roads linking northern Taiwan to the south - was cleared so that 6 fighter jets could take part in runway exercises as part of Taiwan's annual HanKuang military drills.

More than a thousand people got up before dawn to take a look and get a bird's eye view: standing on roofs; on irrigation dykes, in rice paddies.

At times, it was ear-deafening as the jets landed and took off after reloading.

street festival

I was just about to arrive home, when the deafening sound of firecrackers exploded.

I realised there was a huge procession walking slowly down my neighbourhood market - people in costume, painted faces, and musicians.

I ran home and grabbed my new camera to take some pix...

It was a cool mix of explosive sound and colours...the procession snaked its way out of the market, onto one of Taipei's busiest main streets.

I love Taiwan's mix of modern and traditional...

Temple festivities

I checked out one of the most colourful temple festivals today at Baoan temple, in Taipei.

Its a really beautiful old temple that has been carefully preserved.

The festival marks the birthday of the God of Medicine

There all all kinds of floats, processions, acrobatics, and parading of statues from the temple on sedan chairs.

Its colourful; flamboyant and fun; and of course, very noisy; with firecrackers set off before each new troupe performs outside the temple.

Dolphin watching

I had a great day-trip dolphin watching and going out to Taiwan's "ecological park in the sea" - Turtle Mountain Island; a tiny volcanic shaped island that resembles a huge turtle, 10 kms from the coastal town of Toucheng, in Ilan county.

The island used to be inhabited by about 700 people until 1977; when they moved to the mainland, it became an off-limits military area. You can visit a network of underground tunnels built by the military; and there are still military buildings on the island.

The island is now a special ecological protection area; only 400 tourists at a time are allowed to visit; and they are kept to a tiny area on the western part of the island.

You pass a lake, can see some lovely plants and flowers; and even snakes.

But the most special thing was when we got back onto our boat and headed towards a group of dolphins that had been spotted.

I was expecting to see maybe 20-30; but there were more than 100 skipping and dancing around our boat. The experts told us that meant there was a population of 4-500 dolphins at that spot. Such a lovely thing to see....and we really didnt have to go far to find these wonderful mammals.

Schools of dolphins skipped all around our boat

F4 meet their Asian fans

Wish you were here..

I found myself surrounded by thousands of screaming fans from Japan and Korea on Saturday - all having flown in for a four day trip to Taiwan to meet their pop idols, F4.

The band -who are huge in Asia, largely due to their tv series Meteor Garden - have been appointed Taiwan's tourism ambassadors.

The tourism bureau hopes they can encourage many young fans to come to Taiwan to discover the island's scenic spots - much in the way that Korean pop stars and movies have helped to give a boost to Korea's tourism industry.

The idols welcomed their fans in Japanese and Korean; sang for them, and even prepared some meals them, as they talked about their favourite sight-seeing spots in Taiwan.

young fan poses with cardboard cutout of jerry