Taipei court orders detention of TPP's Ko at third bail hearing

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) The Taipei District Court on Thursday night ordered the detention of former Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who was indicted on corruption charges last week, after the Taiwan High Court rejected its two earlier decisions to grant Ko bail.

At a detention hearing that lasted from 6 p.m. to 10:40 p.m., the district court ordered former Taipei Mayor Ko and three other suspects -- real estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), and Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇)-- to be held incommunicado.

The Taipei District Court reversed its earlier bail ruling, citing the ongoing possibility of collusion between the four defendants and witnesses.

The court concluded that the four defendants were implicated in serious offenses, with a significant risk of flight, evidence tampering, and collusion. Detention is therefore necessary to ensure that prosecution and trial can proceed, the court said.

The court stated that its decision was made "out of respect for the judicial hierarchy and in consideration of the evidence presented by the prosecutors regarding the necessity of detention," while also weighing the public interest against the defendants' personal freedom.

In response to the court's decision, the TPP issued a statement criticizing President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and accusing him, without evidence, of interfering in the judicial process and urging the president to "cease using judicial tools to target political rivals."

The TPP also panned prosecutors for continuing to request detention based on "speculation" about witness collusion. The TPP argued that Ko was being "bullied" by prosecutors and emphasized that if detention is deemed necessary to prevent collusion, it would indicate that the four-month investigation has been ineffective.

Ko, who was indicted on corruption charges on Dec. 26 alongside 11 other suspects, was in the Taipei court Thursday for his third bail hearing in under a week. 

During the hearing, the 65-year old former Taipei mayor said everyone knows that the prosecutors are targeting him. "If you want to keep me detained, just say it directly," Ko said. 

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 high court argued that Ko and the other suspects could use technological means to collude with each other and witnesses in the case undetected, and that the district court had not adequately explained how its bail terms could prevent that.

Ko, the TPP's founder and 2024 presidential candidate, was indicted last week on corruption-related charges, including bribery, in connection with his handling of a private developer's real estate project during his second term as Taipei mayor from 2018 to 2022.

Ko resigned as chairman of the TPP on Wednesday.