The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday issued an official apology over what now appears to have been the wrongful execution of a soldier convicted of sexually abusing and murdering a five-year-old girl in 1996.

Amid calls by legislators for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the military to account for the execution of Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶) in 1997, the ministry said in the afternoon that it would fully cooperate with an investigation, adding that the military and judicial system had learned a lesson from this case and that more rigorous investigation mechanisms should be adopted to ensure the protection of human rights.