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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