TPP leader Huang criticizes courts, DPP as Ko's detention hearing looms

Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said Thursday that the Taiwan High Court's decision the previous day to revoke the release of the party's former leader Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on bail for a second time had caused an "uproar in society."

Huang also suggested, without providing evidence, that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had been involved in the court's decision-making.

Huang, who was named acting chairman of Taiwan's third-largest political party after Ko stepped down as its leader on Wednesday, told reporters that the high court's actions "fully demonstrated" that "the DPP will not give up until Ko Wen-je is detained."

"I believe that Ko Wen-je and his legal team will defend his rights until the last moment," the TPP lawmaker said.

Ko, who was indicted on corruption charges on Dec. 26 alongside 11 other suspects, is scheduled to attend his third post-indictment detention hearing in the Taipei District Court at 6 p.m. Thursday to decide whether he will be detained, released on bail, or released without bail.

After being held incommunicado for nearly four months during the investigation into the corruption allegations against him, Ko was released on bail of NT$30 million (US$917,431) on Dec. 27 last year, as ordered by the Taipei District Court. However, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office appealed the decision, which was then revoked on Dec. 29 by the High Court.

In its second post-indictment detention hearing for Ko, the Taipei District Court then ordered that he be released on bail of NT$70 million (US$2.1 million) on Dec. 30 and electronically tagged for monitoring purposes.

After prosecutors appealed a second time, the High Court once again revoked the lower court's decision, sending the case back to the district court.

"The first time the High Court revoked the bail ruling, the reason given was that Ko Wen-je was a flight risk," Huang said. "The second time, the court made a complete 180-degree turn and changed the reason to a risk of collusion of evidence."

"Is this judicial process really the justice that Taiwanese people want?" the acting TPP chairman added.

There is no evidence that Taiwan's DPP-led government has interfered in the prosecutors' investigations into Ko and the TPP for alleged crimes dating back to Ko's second term as mayor of Taipei 2018-2022 and around the time of the 2024 January elections.

Talking to reporters on Thursday morning, TPP Secretary-General Vincent Chou (周榆修) said 3,000 people had applied to join the party since Wednesday afternoon, when the news of Ko's resignation as the party's chairman was announced.

Chou said those new members would not be able to participate in the election of the next formal TPP leader, since the party's rules require membership for at least four months before being eligible to vote in leadership contests.

According to Chou, Ko said Wednesday that he hoped a new TPP chairperson would be formally elected before February.