00:00We begin today with a high-profile legal case here in Taiwan.
00:05Taiwan People's Party founder, Ker Wenzher, has been offered bail after spending a year in detention.
00:11That bail is set at over 2 million U.S. dollars, but according to Ker's lawyers, he is still considering whether to accept it.
00:19Our reporter Tiffany Wong has been following his trial since his first detention last year, and joins us now live from outside the Taipei District Court.
00:28Tiffany, what's the latest on this case?
00:34Hi, Laurel. So just this afternoon, the Taipei District Court granted a 2 million U.S. dollar bail to Ker Wenzher,
00:42who has now been in detention for a year, facing trials for corruption and embezzlement charges.
00:49Ker's supporters have been eagerly awaiting his release, but we had just learned from Ker's lawyers
00:53that he is still seriously considering whether to accept the bail.
00:58And some reports say that he may not want to borrow money to pay off this hefty fee.
01:04For the past few days, Ker has been in court for cross-examination, and that's the first time that the public saw him in a while.
01:11He gave an emotional testimony, even crying as he pleaded for a release during this trial.
01:18Now, throughout this year-long investigation, Ker has been held incommunicado, meaning that he cannot talk with anyone involved in the case.
01:27And he was released very briefly last December on bail.
01:31But then, just a week later, prosecutors successfully appealed to have him re-detained.
01:36Now, even if Ker accepts a bail and is released this time, it still comes with conditions.
01:41He won't be able to leave the country, he will not be able to talk with others involved,
01:45and he'll have to wear an electronic ankle monitor.
01:48And, of course, there is always the chance that prosecutors could appeal once again for his detention.
01:57So why has this trial gotten so much attention here in Taiwan?
02:00Well, Ker is a well-known political figure here in Taiwan.
02:07Ever since 2019, when he founded the Taiwan People's Party, that's a third party here,
02:13he managed to, you know, gain so much momentum that he even launched a pretty competitive campaign in 2024 for the presidency.
02:20He received 25 percent of votes.
02:23Just less than a year later, he found himself at the middle of these trials,
02:28the first into whether he accepted bribes for a construction project while he was Taipei City Mayor,
02:35and another for misusing campaign funds during his run for the presidency.
02:40Altogether, if he's found guilty on all counts, he could face up to 28 years in jail.
02:47Now, his supporters in the TPP and the other major opposition party, the Guo Ming-Dang,
02:52have called this trial judicial persecution.
02:54And the KMT chair today said that while Ke's bail is a positive thing,
03:00that the trial shouldn't have gone on for so long.
03:03Throughout the past year, the TPP has, of course, been standing staunchly behind Ke.
03:08And just a week ago, they even held a rally calling for his release.
03:12But that rally ran into clashes with the police.
03:14And now the party's new chair, Huang Guochang, is under investigation for that.
03:19Now, as more of Ke's supporters rally behind him,
03:23it's clear that people want answers about this investigation,
03:27and many still want to see him come home.
03:31Thank you, Tiffany.
03:33That was Tiffany Wong live outside the Taipei District Court.
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