Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu on Friday refused to commit to a request by victims' families that the country's 40 death row inmates be executed simultaneously. During a meeting in his office with a group of crime victims' families, the minister offered his sympathy and voiced his determination to handle the convicts according to law. 'Law is meant to bring justice to the world, and criminals should be punished according to law,' he was quoted as saying. 'Although the Ministry of Justice has set abolishment of the death penalty as its eventual goal, those who have already been sentenced to death should be executed as required by the law.' The meeting was held behind closed doors, but Hsu Wen-bin, a national policy adviser to the president and a human rights lawyer, said afterward that many families of the victims tearfully pleaded with Tseng to have all death row inmates executed simultaneously. Tseng took office on March 22 to fill a post left by Wang Ching-feng, who resigned amid a public outcry after refusing to sign execution orders for death row inmates. Tseng has told the Legislative Yuan that he personally favors the abolishment of death penalty, but that he will follow the law in dealing with death row inmates unless it is altered to end capital punishment. The minister made headlines when he approved the execution of four death row inmates on April 30. A European Union foreign policy chief condemned the move the next day and asked Taiwan to declare a moratorium on the death penalty and to work to amend laws abolishing the practice. 