TPP leader Ko Wen-je will not appeal detention ruling: Lawyers

Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) Lawyers representing Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Monday that the former Taipei mayor will not appeal the Taipei District Court's Thursday ruling that resulted in their client being detained and held incommunicado.

The three defense lawyers -- Cheng Shen-yuan (鄭深元), Lu Cheng-yi (陸正義) and Hsiao Yi-hung (蕭奕弘) -- issued a joint statement Monday declaring that Ko will not file an appeal against the detention ruling.

According to the statement, Ko had been "clear" before the detention hearing that he would not want to "cause difficulties for the court" and would not protest the court's decision if detained.

When meeting with his lawyers after being formally detained, Ko reiterated that he did not want to file an appeal, according to the statement.

The statement further said that Ko told his lawyers he would "fully cooperate" with the on-going investigation.

According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, Ko may be detained and held incommunicado for a maximum of four months without being formally charged.

On Sunday evening, several thousand Ko supporters gathered outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei's Zhongzheng District at a rally organized by the TPP titled "Assemble! Stand up for justice in Taiwan's judiciary!"

Expressing the belief that Ko is innocent of any wrongdoing and instead has been subject to political persecution by the Democratic Progressive Party government led by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), TPP lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said at the rally that "The Lai government will not let him go."

There is no evidence that Lai has had any involvement in the anti-corruption case conducted by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office.

Ko, 64, is currently being held at Taipei Detention Center in New Taipei's Tucheng District and can only communicate with lawyers while prosecutors continue their investigation into alleged corruption dating back to his second term as Taipei mayor from 2018-2022.

Prosecutors believe Core Pacific Group Chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) gave Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) more than NT$47.40 million (US$1.48 million) as part of an effort by the company to illegally lobby Taipei City government to increase the floor area ratio (FAR) of its large commercial property in Songshan District in order to raise the lot's financial value.

The Taipei District Court ruled on Thursday Ko "clearly knew" that raising the FAR of the property was illegal, yet he "insisted" it happen.

The court said that Ko's case formally meets the requirements for the crime of knowingly "seeking unlawful gains for oneself or for others" as stipulated in Article 6 of the Anti-Corruption Act.

Sept. 6: High Court rejects appeal by suspects detained in Core Pacific City case

Due to the severity of the crime and the scale of the alleged financial gains involved in the case, the court ruled that it was necessary and in the public interest to detain Ko and hold him incommunicado, since the risk of him colluding with others or destroying evidence was judged to be sufficiently strong.

The ruling reversed an earlier decision by the same court on the morning of Sept. 2 that ordered the release of Ko without bail. However, after prosecutors appealed the decision on Wednesday citing additional evidence, the High Court concluded that Ko had been "actively involved" in the alleged corruption, ruling that the district court should hold a second detention hearing for the former Taipei mayor.

The TPP, Taiwan's third largest political party, has questioned the validity of the court's most recent ruling, declaring shortly afterwards that "the TPP will resolutely support Chairman Ko in defending his innocence."

In addition to this criminal investigation into alleged corruption during Ko's time as Taipei mayor, Ko and the TPP are currently also facing a separate criminal investigation relating to campaign finance reporting discrepancies dating back to January's election.