Why Was a Taiwanese Former Presidential Hopeful Detained for a Year?

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) founder Ko Wen-je has been allowed to remain free as he faces trial, after a district court upheld an earlier decision to release him on a US$2 million bail, one of the highest amounts ever set for a politician in Taiwan.   An influential opposition figure, Ko had been held incommunicado for the past year during his investigation on corruption charges.    TaiwanPlus breaks down the charges Ko faces and the timeline of his controversial detention.

Transcript

00:00Taiwan's former presidential candidate and opposition leader Ko Wen-zhe is to remain

00:04free as he faces trial after a district court upheld a previous decision to release him

00:09on a 2 million US dollar bail.

00:12That's one of the highest bail amounts for a politician in Taiwan ever.

00:16Ko Wen-zhe is an influential opposition figure in Taiwan's political scene, and he represented

00:20his party, the Taiwan People's Party, in the 2024 presidential election, securing 26%

00:26of the votes.

00:28Six months after his presidential run, Ko was embroiled in a corruption case and spent

00:32a year detained incommunicado before his recent release.

00:35Ko is facing two main charges.

00:37First, prosecutors say that he allegedly accepted bribes for a construction project while he

00:42was Taipei City Mayor.

00:44Second, prosecutors say that he embezzled political donations during his run for the 2024 presidency.

00:51In August 2024, prosecutors asked to detain Ko during the investigation, but he was later

00:58responsible because the court decided that there was insufficient evidence.

01:03Just a few days later, prosecutors successfully appealed the court's decision and Ko was held

01:07incommunicado, meaning he could only contact his lawyer.

01:10This was meant to prevent him from destroying evidence or colluding with key witnesses.

01:15In December, Ko was released on bail, but only for six days before prosecutors once again

01:20successfully appealed his release.

01:22This September, a year after his initial detention, Ko was released again, with the court saying

01:27it's unlikely he could tamper with evidence related to the investigation.

01:31Throughout his detention, Ko and his supporters have called the case political persecution,

01:36accusing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of interfering with the judicial process.

01:40Why do you want to let the country fall into 4-5-6?

01:45Lai Hsingde, think about it.

01:47The presidential office has pushed back against Ko's accusations, calling it a baseless attack.

01:52But the trial continues and Ko could face serious jail time, over 28 years if convicted on all

01:58charges.

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